Wall Street Closes Mixed on Election Eve: the Dow Rises Alone as Tech Falls a Third Day and Oil Plunges

Wall Street went into Election Day facing two directions at once. At Monday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.41 percent to 51,983.98 — the only one of the three major indexes to gain — while the S&P 500 fell 0.51 percent to 7,541.40 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.07 percent to 25,164.32, according to Reuters' preliminary closing figures. The Russell 2000 slipped 0.21 percent. It was a third straight day of steep declines for the Nasdaq, which in October posted its biggest one-month drop since March 2025, as investors kept questioning whether spending on AI infrastructure is outpacing the cash it generates.

Technology did the damage. The S&P 500's technology index fell 2.7 percent, and chip stocks led the way down, just as they had on Friday: Intel fell another 9 percent or so after plunging nearly 30 percent on Friday, Marvell Technology dropped 13 percent after agreeing to buy optical-components maker Lumentum in a deal valued at $115 billion, Advanced Micro Devices fell 7 percent and Micron 6 percent, while Nvidia and Broadcom eased 1 percent. The selling reversed an optimistic morning — early sentiment had been lifted after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said over the weekend that the United States would 'prefer to do it peacefully' in the conflict involving Iran, a remark that sent oil sharply lower and stocks initially higher before the AI worries reasserted themselves in the afternoon.

Oil was the day's biggest mover in any market. West Texas Intermediate futures settled at $96.08 a barrel, down $8.04, or 7.72 percent, and Brent traded below $105 after falling about 7.9 percent — a drop that knocked the S&P energy index down 4 percent and the big oil majors down more than 3 percent, while lifting the airlines that buy the fuel: United rose 5 percent and American and Delta 4 percent. Money rotated toward the steadier corners of the Dow — Sherwin-Williams rose 6 percent to pace the index, with Walmart, McDonald's, American Express and Visa each adding about 3 percent. Gold futures rose 1.5 percent to $3,955 an ounce, Bitcoin traded around $76,700, and the 10-year Treasury yield eased to about 4.89-4.92 percent, having touched 4.87 percent, its lowest since early September.

What the close sets up is a week with no quiet days. Apple and Palantir reported earnings after Monday's bell, Advanced Micro Devices follows, the October jobs report lands Friday — and before any of it, Tuesday's midterm elections decide control of Congress, with polls suggesting Democrats are likely to win the House and the Senate outcome less clear. Traders, meanwhile, still price a December Federal Reserve rate increase as more likely than not — CME data put it at 76 percent. New York's traders voted with their portfolios on Monday. The rest of the city votes on Tuesday.