Shares of industrial and transportation companies rose as reduced fears of a contested election boosted defense companies and other government contractors.

President-elect Joe Biden moved quickly to take advantage of government resources for his transition to the White House after the Trump administration ended a 16-day stalemate and announced its intention to begin cooperating with his team.

"A trifecta of good news for markets put investors in the holiday spirit, with multiple vaccines announced in the past 2 weeks, a market-friendly Treasury Secretary appointment and the removal of election uncertainty," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for financial-advice network the Independent Advisor Alliance, in e-mailed commentary.

General Electric shares rallied after analysts at brokerage Oppenheimer said the industrial conglomerate would benefit from a sustained rebound in the aviation industry.

Separately, GE warned employees that more job cuts would be necessary at the jet-engine unit as a vaccine would not come soon enough to stop the bleeding in the commercial-airline business.

Trucking volumes dropped 8.7% in October from the previous year on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the seventh straight year-over-year decline, the American Trucking Associations said.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-24-20 1629ET