What happened

The stock market continued its post-election rally on Thursday, with all of the major averages up by more than 2% at 3 p.m. EST. And e-commerce home furnishings retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W) was a major standout, with shares up by 11%.

So what

There isn't any company-specific news fueling Thursday's move, but rather a combination of a few market forces. For one, there seems to be quite a bit of e-commerce optimism as we head into the holiday season, as many companies (including Wayfair) have expressed optimism that more Americans will do their shopping online this year. Other e-commerce stocks like Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) were also outperforming the market on Thursday.

Image source: Getty Images.

We've also seen a general boost to stocks whose businesses have performed well so far in the pandemic, as rising coronavirus cases are causing investors to worry about further lockdowns.

It's also worth noting that this could also be continued optimism stemming from Wayfair's third-quarter earnings, which were reported on Tuesday and handily surpassed expectations. The company's revenue jumped by 67% year over year and seemed to help reassure investors that the company's recent growth wasn't just due to the pandemic lockdowns earlier in the year, but that Wayfair has acquired a durable new customer base. Including today's move, the stock is now 21% higher for the week.

Now what

We're heading into the holiday shopping season, which has the potential to be a big catalyst for Wayfair as e-commerce retail could be an especially popular means of buying gifts. Whether the company will continue its amazing 2020 growth story in the fourth quarter remains to be seen, but it certainly has some strong momentum as it heads into the most important time of the year for retailers.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Matthew Frankel, CFP has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Etsy, and Wayfair. The Motley Fool recommends eBay and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $18 calls on eBay, short January 2021 $37 calls on eBay, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.