The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Bounce Off Their Lowest Closes Since July as Chips Rebound, but Most S&P 500 Stocks Fall

The S&P 500 snapped a three-day slide, a day after its lowest close since July

The S&P 500 rose 0.36% on Tuesday, Election Day, to 7,568.92, its first gain after three straight losing sessions. Monday's close of 7,541.40 had been its lowest since July 31. The Nasdaq Composite, which on Monday had closed at its lowest level since July 30, rose 0.83% to 25,372.01. For both indexes it was the best day since October 27.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average went the other way, falling 197.26 points, or 0.38%, to 51,786.72. Apple, down 1.90% after its quarterly report, was among the Dow's drags.

A bounce that faded

The S&P 500 traded as high as 7,594.61 during the day, up about 0.7%, before giving back about half of that gain into the close. The Nasdaq-100 rose 0.68% to 28,180.26 and remains about 10% below its October 6 record. The Russell 2000 of smaller companies added only 0.23%.

Even after the bounce, the S&P 500 sits 3.20% below its record close of 7,818.93 from October 6, and the Nasdaq Composite is 8.07% below its own October 6 record. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) eased to 20.83 from Monday's 21.15, which had been its highest close since June 10.

Every number in this story is from Tuesday's regular session, which ended at 4:00 pm ET, before any polls had closed, so none of it reflects the midterm results.

What it could mean

A first gain after a three-day slide, coming right off the lowest closes since July, has at times marked the point where selling pressure starts to ease, and a second or third up day would make that case stronger. It could also be a pause: the gains faded into the close, the Dow fell, and a bounce that does not hold above Monday's lows may leave those lows exposed again.

Is Tuesday's bounce the start of a recovery from the lowest closes since July, or a pause before they are tested again?

The S&P 500 rose, but 313 of its stocks fell and only 189 rose

Underneath the index gain, most of the market lost ground. Of the 502 S&P 500 members that traded, 313 fell and 189 rose, so nearly two of every three stocks in the index ended lower. The median S&P 500 stock fell 0.49%, and the equal-weight S&P 500 fund (RSP), which gives every company the same weight, fell 0.34% while the regular, size-weighted index rose 0.36%.

The gap between the two, about 0.69 percentage points, was the widest since October 19.

Tuesday was the mirror of Monday

On Monday the pattern ran the other way: the S&P 500 fell 0.51% while the equal-weight fund rose 0.76%, and 346 stocks rose against 156 that fell. Monday the index fell while most stocks rose; Tuesday the index rose while most stocks fell.

The typical stock rose in only two sectors

The median stock rose in only two of the 11 sectors: information technology (+1.68%) and communication services (+0.68%). In the other nine, the median stock fell, with consumer staples (-1.93%) and materials (-1.57%) the weakest.

Among the sector funds, seven of 11 fell. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) lost 2.07% and the Materials fund (XLB) 2.05%, the worst day for each since late July. The Technology fund (XLK) rose 1.31% and Communication Services (XLC) 1.18%.

What it could mean

When an index rises while most of its stocks fall, the gain rests on a small group of large companies, and rallies built that narrowly have often proved fragile. It could also be a rotation in progress: the beaten-down technology names bounced first, and if buying spreads to the rest of the market in the coming days, the narrow start would matter less.

Can an S&P 500 gain last when nearly two of every three of its stocks fell?

Chip stocks bounced 2.6%, back above their July low but still about 20% under their October high

The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose 2.63% to 10,600.40, its best day since October 27, after a run of heavy selling.

Monday's close had left the index 21.86% below its October 6 high of 13,217.82. Yahoo Finance's Jared Blikre wrote that the index finished Monday "about 22% below its Oct. 6 high, its second bear market since June." Blikre added that it was the index's second straight close below its 200-day moving average and its lowest close since April.

Tuesday's gain lifted the index back above its July 29 close of 10,447.49. It is still 19.80% below the October 6 high and below its 200-day average, which stands near 10,807.

Who bounced, and who did not

• AMD: +3.65%, before its report after the bell
• Sandisk: +4.78%
• Broadcom: +3.07%
• Micron: +2.58%
• Nvidia: +2.29%
• Intel: +0.97%
• VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH): +2.01%; iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX): +2.50%

Other AI-related names rose too: Oracle gained 5.86% after Monday's 8.85% drop, CoreWeave about 7%, Microsoft 2.74%, Meta 2.36% and Amazon 2.06%. No specific reason was reported for those moves beyond the broader chip and AI rebound.

Two of Monday's hardest-hit names barely moved: Lumentum slipped 0.62%, its third straight loss, and Marvell added 0.33%, after drops of 18.6% and 12.7% on Monday.

Not everyone sees the worry passing. Shawn Snyder, economic strategist at Potomac Fund Management, told CNBC: "The concerns about the cost of capital and the level of debt financing necessary [are] going to persist for quite some time."

What it could mean

Reclaiming the July low after a quick break below it has sometimes turned a breakdown into a failed one, and a lasting chip rebound could help lift the broader market. On the other side, one strong day does not undo a slide of about 20%, the index is still below its 200-day average, and worries about the cost of financing AI spending, if they persist, could cap rebounds.

Does the return above the July low mark the turn for chip stocks, or only a pause in their slide?

Korea's Kospi fell 3.6%, and CNN's fear gauge sank deeper into extreme fear

Asian markets were mostly lower on Tuesday, led by technology losses in South Korea and Taiwan. South Korea's Kospi fell 3.59% to 5,648.79, after sliding from the open as it tracked Monday's technology losses on Wall Street; heavyweight Samsung Electronics was down 5% early in the session. The smaller-company Kosdaq lost 4.08%. Taiwan's Weighted Index also fell 3.59%, to 43,307.54. Mainland China's CSI 300 slipped 0.2%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.34%.

In Australia, the central bank raised its key interest rate to 4.85%, the highest since November 2008, its fifth increase this year.

Fear deepened even as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose

CNN's Fear & Greed Index stood at 19.1 at 4:03 pm ET, in its "extreme fear" zone. That was lower than Monday's close of 22.7, even though the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both rose. A week earlier the gauge read 32.9, and a month earlier 38.2.

Wall Street's own volatility gauge eased slightly: the VIX closed at 20.83, down from 21.15 on Monday.

What it could mean

Very low readings on sentiment gauges have often come near short-term lows, because so much caution is already in prices, and a market that rises while fear deepens can catch sellers off guard. Fear can also be early rather than wrong: steep drops in Seoul and Taipei, both heavy in chipmakers, show the pressure on technology had not lifted everywhere, and further losses abroad could weigh on U.S. chip stocks.

With the fear gauge falling deeper into extreme fear on an up day, is this a bounce off the lows, or a pause before they break?

After the bell, AMD posted record revenue of $13.4 billion and forecast about $17 billion this quarter

Advanced Micro Devices reported third-quarter results at 4:15 pm ET, after the close. Revenue was a record $13.4 billion, up 45% from a year earlier. Analysts had expected $13.09 billion, according to Koyfin data cited by Stocktwits. Adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings were $2.09 a share, up 74%; under standard accounting (GAAP), $1.46 a share.

The Data Center segment brought in a record $8.5 billion, up 97%, driven by record sales of its Instinct GPUs and EPYC CPUs, the company said. The Client and Gaming segment fell 8% to $3.7 billion, with gaming revenue down 40%, and the Embedded segment rose 29% to $1.1 billion.

The outlook

For the fourth quarter, AMD expects revenue of "approximately $17 billion, plus or minus 3%." The midpoint would be about 66% growth from a year earlier and about 27% more than the third quarter. AMD expects an adjusted gross margin of about 55%, against 56% in the third quarter.

Lisa Su, AMD chair and CEO, said in the release:

"We delivered a record quarter with revenue exceeding the high end of our guidance as Data Center segment sales nearly doubled year-over-year."

She added that "we expect growth to accelerate further in the fourth quarter as we scale Helios and 'Venice' production." Chief financial officer Jean Hu said: "Our fourth-quarter outlook reflects accelerating revenue and earnings growth, driven by strong demand across our Data Center portfolio."

The stock

AMD closed the regular session at $483.90, up 3.65%, before the report. In after-hours trading it jumped; at 4:17 pm ET it was about 6.5% above the close. After-hours prices can change before the next session opens. The company's conference call was set for 5:00 pm ET.

What it could mean

A record quarter and a forecast of faster growth could support the case that AI spending is still rising, which may help other chipmakers and suppliers when trading resumes. The other way: after-hours gains do not always hold into the next session, and investors may weigh the slightly lower margin outlook and the cost of building AI capacity against the revenue growth.

Will AMD's outlook revive the broader chip rally, or stay a story about one company?

Apple fell 1.9% on its margin forecast and Gartner 13%, both despite beating estimates

Several companies reported results that topped forecasts and still lost ground on Tuesday.

Apple -1.90%, to $331.90, its worst day since September 29, its third straight loss and its lowest close since October 1. The stock is now 4.9% below its October 29 record close of $348.91. Apple's report on Monday evening, the first under CEO John Ternus, beat estimates compiled by LSEG: earnings of $2.10 a share against $1.99 expected, revenue of $114.48 billion against $113.39 billion, and iPhone revenue of $57.58 billion against $56.54 billion. Apple also forecast December-quarter revenue growth of 7% to 10%, above the 6.1% analysts expected.

The stock fell after the company forecast a gross margin of 45% to 46% for the current quarter, below the 46.3% estimate, and iPad revenue of $6.23 billion missed the $6.7 billion expected. Apple said its memory costs were higher than in the June quarter, and Ternus said on the call that the company expects even higher memory costs in the December quarter. Ternus told CNBC: "I think at this point, with everything we've achieved, it just feels like we've never been more confident that the best is yet to come."

Gartner -13.26%, to $204.07, the worst performer in the S&P 500 and its worst day since February 3. Shares slid even though third-quarter results beat expectations and the company issued better-than-expected full-year earnings and revenue guidance.

Also beat and fell

• Zebra Technologies -8.76%: results beat, but its adjusted gross margin of 46% trailed the 47.7% FactSet estimate.
• Palantir -1.65%, its sixth straight loss, despite adjusted earnings that topped estimates.
• Pfizer -2.25%, after earnings of 87 cents a share against 73 cents expected.

Missed and fell

• Thomson Reuters -9.87%: adjusted earnings of 81 cents against 83 cents expected (FactSet).
• Shopify -8.74%: missed on gross merchandise volume and subscription gross profit; revenue of $3.74 billion against $3.75 billion (LSEG).

The winners

• Fiserv +12.46%, the S&P 500's best and its best day since March 24, 2020: adjusted earnings of $1.75 against $1.72 expected, and a $500 million fourth-quarter buyback.
• Bloom Energy +9.05%: Barclays upgraded it to overweight, while lowering its price target to $289 from $319.
• DuPont +8.60%: results beat and it raised its full-year outlook.
• Revvity +7.90%: raised its full-year adjusted earnings guidance.

What it could mean

When good results are met with selling, it can mean expectations and prices had already run ahead, and that investors are looking past this quarter to margins and costs, such as Apple's memory bill. It can also leave room for recovery: if the sell-off in companies that beat proves overdone, those stocks could rebound once the market's mood improves.

When companies beat estimates and still fall, is the market saying the good news was already priced in, or is it overreacting?

Bill Ackman told CNBC that "every number of days" he feels markets are broken

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday morning that he worries the stock market is broken, pointing to the rise of speculative trading and leverage.

"Every number of days, I feel like markets are broken. Stocks trade at prices that make no sense to me."

He went on: "Yes, it's good if you're a long-term investor and you can buy at a stupid price." He said he did not think that was good for the country.

"We're back to the casino-type markets when there was 95% leverage," Ackman said. "I don't think that's inherently good for the economy, for society, and it's leading to these massive moves in stocks."

A worry about speculation, not a crash call

Ackman did not say a crash was coming. He said the same dislocations have let Pershing Square buy companies it considers high quality at discounted prices: Microsoft when it was pummeled earlier this year, Amazon when it fell after President Trump's tariffs, and Alphabet after ChatGPT's launch. He named Visa and Mastercard among the world's "greatest" businesses and is also bullish on Netflix, in which he disclosed a position in August.

He also worries that the rise of one-day leveraged vehicles, perpetual futures and sports betting is dangerous for investors who treat the stock market as a get-rich-quick scheme. In the same interview he said he does not see a roaring '20s in the stock market.

His comments came on a day when the S&P 500 rose while most of its stocks fell, chip stocks jumped after a slide of about 20%, and several companies that beat estimates fell sharply.

What it could mean

Big swings driven by leverage can push prices away from what businesses are worth, which may hand patient buyers bargains, as Ackman describes. The same leverage can make declines sharper when it is unwound, and if speculative trading keeps growing, sudden moves in single stocks and whole sectors could become more common.

Do wild price swings like these create opportunity for long-term investors, or a market that is harder to trust?

Oil ended near flat amid a reported U.S. strike, talk of a settlement and Iran's rejection of diplomacy based on coercion

Oil swung on Tuesday and ended close to where it started. U.S. crude (WTI, December contract) was about $97 a barrel, up slightly (+0.35%), and Brent crude (January contract) about $104, down slightly (-0.32%), a second straight loss. These are late prices, not official settlements. Both had fallen more than 7% on Monday. Overnight, Brent had risen above $107 before dipping below $101, as uncertainty over the war with Iran persisted.

The headlines

• A reported strike, Monday. U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that Washington attacked Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday, and that the United States has been carrying out "limited strikes" against the country in recent weeks.
• Talk of a settlement. Vice President JD Vance told CNN: "The president and I both feel really good about the prospect of potentially coming to a negotiated settlement." President Trump told reporters Tehran wants "to make a deal and that could happen."
• Mediation. Qatar's foreign ministry said Tuesday that it is continuing to mediate between the United States and Iran, and that a Qatari delegation held talks in Tehran.
• Tehran's answer, Tuesday. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran will not accept diplomacy based on coercion, according to Iran's state news agency, IRNA.

At the pump

The national average for a gallon of gasoline was $4.14 and diesel $6.29, according to AAA. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said both are the highest on any Election Day in U.S. history. It is a comparison of Election Days only, not an all-time record.

What it could mean

Progress toward talks could take some of the war premium out of oil, which may ease pressure on fuel prices, inflation worries and bond yields. If the strikes widen or diplomacy stalls, oil could jump again, which has tended to help energy producers and hurt airlines, shippers and consumer spending.

With strikes and settlement talk in the same week, which way does the oil market break first?

The 10-year Treasury yield rose to about 4.95%, and September job openings beat forecasts

Treasury yields rose on Tuesday. The 10-year yield, the benchmark for mortgages and many other loans, closed at about 4.95%, its highest since October 29. The 30-year yield rose to about 5.32%. These figures are preliminary, and sources differed slightly at the close.

Job openings

The Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed 7.523 million job openings in September, more than the 7.125 million economists polled by Dow Jones had expected, and up from a revised 7.2 million in August. The hiring rate edged up to 3.4% from 3.3%. Openings and hiring changed little in September, continuing what has been called a "low hire, low fire" labor market.

What comes next

More data arrives this week: the ISM services survey and ADP's private payrolls report on Wednesday, then the government's October jobs report on Friday, November 6.

What it could mean

A 10-year yield near 5% raises borrowing costs across the economy and can weigh on stock valuations, especially for fast-growing companies whose profits lie further in the future. If upcoming jobs data points to a cooling labor market, yields could ease and give stocks some relief; stronger data could push them higher still.

Is a 10-year yield near 5% a ceiling the bond market will respect, or a level it is ready to break through?

Midterm results arrive after the close, with Wall Street split on what they mean for stocks

Americans voted on Tuesday for control of the House and the Senate. Results come in after the close, so nothing in Tuesday's market numbers reflects them. Some races may not be called on election night.

The odds

On the prediction market Polymarket, Democrats had a 76% chance of winning both chambers as of Tuesday morning, with a Democratic House and a Republican Senate a distant second at 19%. Republicans hold the Senate 53-47, so Democrats need a net gain of four seats. These are betting odds, not results.

What Wall Street expects

• JPMorgan sees a blue wave knocking the S&P 500 by about a half percent on Wednesday; its traders see up to a 1% gain if Republicans hold the Senate.
• Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute: "From a certainty standpoint, the market knows what to do with Republicans holding both chambers."
• Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets, in a note to clients: "The better the Democrats perform, the more nervous the market is likely to become regarding AI regulations."
• Tobin Marcus, head of U.S. policy and politics at Wolfe Research, told CNBC: "Investors seem to have a significant dose of skepticism about whether the final outcome is going to be quite as favorable to Democrats as the polling suggests."
• Shawn Snyder, Potomac Fund Management: "You're looking at an AI trade that's already taken a hit," he said. "That, combined with the idea that the uncertainty from the midterm fades, probably argues for relief rally no matter what."
• Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG, wrote last week: "The reason stocks often perform well in November during midterms is because [the S&P 500] typically is weak INTO the elections. We have the opposite setup this year."

What history shows

The S&P 500 was up one year later after every midterm election going back to the early 1980s. Krinsky found that the index has typically averaged a 14% drawdown at some point in the second half of midterm years. And Yahoo Finance's Jared Blikre wrote that the outcome has shaped stocks for about three months, then barely at all.

What it could mean

Once results are known, removing uncertainty has often helped stocks, whatever the outcome, and some strategists expect a relief rally on that basis. The outcome could still move sectors: a strong Democratic showing could add pressure on AI and data-center stocks over regulation worries, while Republicans holding the Senate could be read as more of the status quo.

Will the market cheer simply having the uncertainty behind it, or will the makeup of the new Congress matter more?

The close: S&P 500 and Nasdaq up, Dow down, oil near flat, gold lower

Closing levels on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with the change from Monday:

• S&P 500: 7,568.92, up 27.52 points (+0.36%)
• Nasdaq Composite: 25,372.01, up 207.65 (+0.83%)
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 51,786.72, down 197.26 (-0.38%)
• Nasdaq-100: 28,180.26 (+0.68%)
• Russell 2000: 2,812.45 (+0.23%)
• PHLX Semiconductor Index: 10,600.40 (+2.63%)
• VIX: 20.83, down 0.32 (-1.51%)

The shape of the day

The S&P 500 traded as high as 7,594.61, up about 0.7%, then gave back about half its gain. The S&P 500 tracking fund (SPY) made its low at the 9:30 am open and its high at 1:30 pm ET. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each ended a three-day losing streak; the Dow fell after one up day. Under the surface, 313 S&P 500 stocks fell and 189 rose.

Rates, oil, gold, the dollar and bitcoin

• 10-year Treasury yield: about 4.95%, its highest since October 29 (preliminary)
• 30-year yield: about 5.32%
• WTI crude (December): about $97, up slightly (not a settlement)
• Brent crude (January): about $104, down slightly (not a settlement)
• Gold (December futures): about $3,933 an ounce, down 0.91%
• U.S. dollar index: 101.87 (+0.12%)
• Bitcoin: about $77,800, up about 1% over the day

Crypto

Coinbase rose 5.53% after sliding 15% in the three trading days through Monday; Morgan Stanley had cut it to underweight on Monday after weaker trading volumes. Binance said the hackers behind its record hack, estimated at $6.3 billion, posed as recruiters and persuaded an engineer to download malicious software, one stage of a multistep attack. The FBI has blamed North Korea, which denies it. Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33, told clients that bitcoin is "rigged for a major move" whatever the election outcome.

What it could mean

A day with gains in the big indexes, a drop in the Dow and losses for most stocks leaves the market's direction unsettled, and the midterm results and Friday's jobs report could settle it either way. Higher yields and lower gold on the same day could be read as less demand for safety, which could support stocks if it lasts; yields that keep climbing toward 5% could weigh on them instead.

After a split day like this, which matters more for what comes next: the indexes' gains, or the stocks that fell?