Dow ends 214 points higher but Nasdaq drops 1% as chip stocks slide on midterms eve

Wall Street ended Monday split down the middle. The Dow Jones Industrial Average held on to a gain as oil kept falling, while a fresh slide in chipmakers and artificial intelligence stocks pulled the Nasdaq down 1% on the eve of the US midterm elections.

The Dow closed up 213.67 points, or 0.41%, at 51,983.98, giving back about half of the gain it held at midday. The S&P 500 fell 38.67 points, or 0.51%, to 7,541.40. The Nasdaq Composite lost 272.68 points, or 1.07%, to 25,164.32. The bell rang at 4 pm in New York, 2:30 am IST on Tuesday.

Chipmakers take the hit

The selling was heaviest in semiconductors. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 3.37% to 10,328.33, its members caught in a renewed rush out of AI-linked shares that has run for several sessions.

Marvell Technology sank 12.72% after its proposed acquisition of Lumentum, and Lumentum itself tumbled 18.59%. Oracle, already under pressure from its plan to raise $20 billion in new shares and bonds for AI data centres, fell 8.85% to $119.10. Nvidia was up about 2.6% early in the day but closed 1.3% lower.

A few large names held up. Amazon gained 2.2% and Tesla 1%. Apple slipped about 1.8% to $338.32 ahead of its results, which came out after the close.

Oil slump lifts travel stocks

Oil did the Dow’s work. Brent crude for January fell 7.6% to $104.77 a barrel and US crude for December dropped 7.4% to $96.46, as traders bet on talks between Washington and Tehran. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian was reported by the state news agency IRNA to have said that the Supreme Leader had authorised the government to advance negotiations.

Cheaper fuel was good news for travel companies. United Airlines rose 4.8%, Carnival gained 4.2% and Southwest Airlines added 3.6%. Gold climbed 1.8% to about $3,946 an ounce, and longer-term Treasury yields eased.

What comes next

Americans vote in the midterm elections on Tuesday, with control of Congress at stake, and the result will be known only after Indian markets close. Results from Apple and Palantir landed after the bell, and AMD reports on Tuesday.

For Dalal Street, the sharp fall in crude is the bigger cue. India buys most of its oil abroad, so Brent near $105 eases pressure on the rupee and on companies that burn fuel. The weak close for technology shares in New York may weigh on Indian IT stocks when trading opens at 9:15 am IST.