US STOCKS-Dow, S&P gain in choppy trade, U.S. election in focus

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* Clorox rises after strongest sales growth in 2 decades
* Tech mega-caps bounce from steep selloff on Friday
* Dow up 1.35%, S&P 500 up 0.83%, Nasdaq down 0.25%

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to mid-afternoon; changes byline and adds NEW YORK dateline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P advanced on
Monday while the Nasdaq dipped on the eve of the U.S.
presidential election, as investors braced for what could be big
market swings after all three indexes notched their biggest
weekly decline since March.
Market participants largely expected short-term volatility
and the likelihood of major long-term policy shifts related to
taxes, government spending, trade and regulation depending on
whether Republican President Donald Trump or his Democratic
challenger Joe Biden wins the White House race.
Biden is ahead in national opinion polls, but races are
tight in battleground states that could tip the election to
Trump. Analysts said the outcome most likely to shake equity
markets in the near term would be no immediate winner on Tuesday
night. While the Dow and S&P remained on the plus side, they were
well off session highs, and the Nasdaq dipped into the red as
mega-cap technology and tech-related names continued their slump
from the prior week.
Growth stocks .RLG shed 0.07%, while the beaten-down value
names .RLV , which tend to outperform coming out of a
recession, rose 1.72%.
"If it feels like it is moving more to value and growth is
taking a little bit more of a hit, it is telling you the market
still expects a Biden win. It doesn't expect a complete
Democratic sweep but it does expect a Biden win," said Ken
Polcari, chief market strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in
Jupiter, Florida.
Investors betting on a Biden administration, which is
expected to deliver a massive fiscal stimulus and promote green
energy, have fueled a rally in solar stocks, industrials and
small-cap names in recent weeks. On the other hand, JP Morgan has listed Bank of America
BAC.N , Wells Fargo WFC.N and Citigroup C.N in its "Trump
basket" of stocks. The S&P banks index .SPXBK added 2.41%.
Energy .SPNY , materials .SPLRCM and industrials
.SPLRCI enjoyed the sharpest percentage gains among major S&P
sectors.
The S&P 500 ended a turbulent week at near six-week lows on
Friday, after quarterly reports from technology mega-caps failed
to impress and as coronavirus cases surged in the United States
and Europe. The weekly percentage drop was the largest since
late March, marking the end of a selloff that sent the benchmark
index into a bear market, or drop of more than 20% from a high.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX , known as Wall Street's
fear gauge, inched lower on Monday after ratcheting up to near
four-month highs last week.
Investors will watch this week's Federal Reserve two-day
policy meeting, the monthly jobs report and earnings from about
a quarter of the S&P 500 companies.
Clorox Co CLX.N gained 4.74% after reporting its strongest
quarterly sales growth in more than two decades and raising its
full-year revenue forecast. Market research firm Nielsen Holdings Plc NLSN.N gained
3.74% on plans to sell its consumer goods data unit for $2.7
billion to private equity firm Advent International.
The S&P airlines index .SPCOMAIR fell 1.65%, while cruise
operators Carnival Corp CCL.N and Norwegian Cruise Line
Holdings Ltd NCLH.N shed 1.39% and 3.27% respectively,
reflecting fears over a relentless surge in COVID-19 cases.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.17-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.61-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 6 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 19 new highs and 45 new lows.