U.S. stocks split on Election Day: Nasdaq snaps three-day slide, Dow falls alone

U.S. stocks closed mixed on midterm Election Day, November 3. A rebound in chip stocks lifted the Nasdaq Composite 207.69 points, or 0.83%, to 25,372.01, snapping a three-day slide, and the S&P 500 added 27.52 points, or 0.36%, to 7,568.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 197.26 points, or 0.38%, to 51,786.72, the only major index to decline. The small-cap Russell 2000 rose about 0.23% to about 2,812, and the Cboe Volatility Index eased 1.51% to 20.83. (Cover photo is a file photo of the New York Stock Exchange trading floor.)

Chips lead the rebound; Apple drags the Dow

Technology led the day: the S&P 500 technology sector rose 1.31%, semiconductors gained about 2.5%, Nvidia rose roughly 2.3% to 2.8% and Broadcom about 3.07%. Apple, by contrast, fell 1.90% on concerns that rising memory costs are squeezing its margins, and was the main weight on the Dow. After the closing bell, AMD, Arista Networks and Super Micro Computer rose in after-hours trading on strong AI demand signals in their results.

Hot JOLTS data lifts the 10-year yield to about 4.95%

A hotter-than-expected JOLTS job-openings report released before the open pushed Treasury yields higher across maturities: the 10-year yield rose about 4 basis points to about 4.93-4.95%, and the 2-year yield rose about 2 basis points to 4.61%. Higher yields pressured rate-sensitive blue chips and added to the Dow's decline. With midterm results not expected to be clear until Wednesday at the earliest, investors stayed cautious on Election Day itself; this report covers only published closing figures and that day's news, and makes no forecast about where markets go next.