While you were sleeping: UPDATED Dow rises as Clinton seen leading

Wall Street rose, recovering from earlier losses, amid signs that US voters are favouring Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to become the next president.

Republican rival Donald Trump is trailing Clinton as polling booths are open across the nation on Election Day.

At the Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.83 points, or 0.4%, to 18,332.43, adding to a 371-point rally on Monday.

The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.5% to 5193.49 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 0.5% to 2139.53.

Travelers and Home Depot shares, up 1.6% and 1.3% respectively, led the advance in the Dow.

US crude oil rose 0.2% to $US44.98 a barrel, and gold slipped 0.4% to $US1273.40 an ounce, reversing course from earlier in the session.

Mrs Clinton has a 90% chance of defeating Mr Trump, according to the final Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll released on Monday.

A Clinton victory is not taken for granted, however.

"The election event risk is asymmetric," primary dealer BMO Capital Markets head of US rates strategy Ian Lyngen told Bloomberg.

"Either a Trump victory will trigger a massive flight-to-quality move, or a Clinton win will result in a more modest bid for risk assets and status-quo expectations."

Interest rates likely to rise
A Clinton victory is seen underpinning the odds of a US Federal Reserve interest rate increase next month. Data compiled by Bloomberg based on fed funds futures trading show an 86% probability of higher borrowing costs by year end, up from 76% on Friday.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said it was "reasonable" for the Fed to hike rates in December given the strength of the U.S. economy.

"The outlook and the fundamentals continue to look pretty good," Mr Evans told investors and economists at a UBS bank luncheon. "There is some risk here but I think that December is looking if the data continue to come in and we're almost there it should be reasonable."

Weighing on sentiment were some disappointing earnings from companies including CVS and Hertz, which each downgraded their full-year profit guidance.

CVS shares traded 10.9% lower while Hertz shares sank 31.6%.

Hertz severely missed the mark. That made investors worried about rival Avis Budget Group, sending shares 8.8% lower.

"The stock [of Hertz] will reflect a newfound lack of confidence in earnings visibility and the company's ability to provide achievable guidance," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka said, according to Reuters.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the day with a 0.3% increase from the previous close, underpinned by better than expected earnings from Credit Agricole and Associated British Foods.

Germany's DAX Index rose 0.2%, France's CAC 40 Index added 0.4%, while the UK's FTSE 100 Index advanced 0.5%.

(BusinessDesk)