Dow Holds Gain as Oil Tumbles and Chip Stocks Pull Nasdaq Lower

Wall Street ended Monday split, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average holding on to part of its afternoon gain while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite gave back their advances and closed lower. The Dow rose 0.4 percent, or 217 points, to 51,988. The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent, or 38 points, to 7,542. The Nasdaq fell 1.1 percent, or 273 points, to 25,164.

At 12:50 p.m. Eastern, the Dow had been up 1.0 percent, the S&P 500 had been up 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq had been up 0.4 percent, according to AP. The Dow kept less than half of that gain by the close. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both finished below where they had started the day.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies ended the day little changed. The exchange-traded fund tracking the index closed down less than 0.1 percent, according to Finnhub. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.89 percent, down from 4.93 percent on Friday, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Oil prices fell sharply for a second reason in the same session. Brent crude settled at $104.77 a barrel, down 7.6 percent, and West Texas Intermediate settled at $96.46 a barrel, down 7.4 percent, putting the American benchmark back below $100 a barrel.

Diplomacy drove the decline. Talks between Iranian and Qatari mediators entered a third day, raising hopes for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil travels. Reuters reported that Iranian negotiators left the talks with a draft proposal being circulated and a follow-up meeting possible. OPEC+ held its December production targets unchanged at a meeting on Sunday.

Chip stocks led the market lower and pulled the Nasdaq down with them. BBX reported that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 3.4 percent. Intel fell nearly 9 percent, Advanced Micro Devices, Western Digital and Seagate Technology each fell more than 7 percent, and SanDisk fell more than 6 percent. Cerebras fell 11.7 percent. Lumentum fell more than 10 percent and Marvell Technology also dropped sharply after Marvell agreed to buy Lumentum in an all-stock deal valued at about $115 billion including debt, according to The Private Banker.

Manufacturing data gave the morning session a lift. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to 55.5 in October from 54.5 in September, above the forecast of 54.7. A reading above 50 signals growth in factory activity. The survey’s prices index eased to 75.2 from 77.9 but remained high, and sixteen manufacturing industries reported higher raw-material prices while none reported decreases.

Monday’s split followed a rough Friday. The Dow fell 1.1 percent to 51,770.31, the S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent to 7,580.07 and the Nasdaq fell 2.9 percent to 25,437.00. Intel fell 28.6 percent, Reddit fell 29.2 percent and Advanced Micro Devices fell 10.9 percent. The Nasdaq lost 5.3 percent in October, its worst month since March 2025.

Apple reported after the close and beat expectations. Revenue was $114.5 billion, up 12 percent from a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share were $2.10, up 14 percent, according to MacDailyNews, which published the company’s release. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.99 a share on revenue of $113.4 billion. Gross margin was 47.9 percent, including about 1 percentage point from tariff refunds. IPhone revenue reached a September-quarter record and Services revenue reached an all-time high, the company said.

Apple shares fell 1.8 percent to $338.32 in the regular session before the release, according to Finnhub. No first after-hours reaction to the results had been reported when this article was written. The earnings call with John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook as chief executive, was scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern.

The week ahead stays busy. Voters go to the polls for the midterm elections on Tuesday, and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey is also due Tuesday. A reading on the services sector follows on Wednesday, and the October jobs report arrives Friday. Apple results reported after the close on Monday will be the first market reaction investors see on Tuesday.