NEW YORK — Major stock-market indexes climbed Tuesday as investors waited for the finish of a closely fought U.S. presidential election.

“We’re on pins and needles,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, a money management firm. Orlando, who backs Republican Mitt Romney, said he thought the stock-market’s gains reflected optimism that Romney could win.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 133.24 points to close at 13,245.68.

Companies that investors believe would benefit under a potential Romney administration surged ahead. They included United Technologies and Boeing, which do substantial business with the Defense Department.

Four financial companies — Travelers, American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America — ranked among the 10 biggest gainers in the 30-stock Dow average.

Other investors say that they simply want the election behind them. That will allow Wall Street and Congress to shift their attention to the so-called fiscal cliff, a package of tax increases and government spending cuts scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

In other trading Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 11.13 points to 1,428.39, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 12.27 points to 3,011.93.