Oil falls sharply and the Dow rises alone as technology sells off for a third day on the eve of the election

Two trades ran in opposite directions all day. The morning began with a rally on the diplomatic news out of Washington and Doha, and oil gave up its war premium in hours: a barrel of American crude that traded above 100 dollars on Friday settled under 97 dollars on Monday, and Brent crude lost more than eight dollars a barrel. Airlines rose on the cheaper fuel, United by about 5 percent, and the sectors that spend on fuel and freight followed. Energy producers took the loss on the other side of the same move, falling just under 4 percent as a group.

The technology selloff that began last week did not take the day off. The Nasdaq fell for a third straight session, and October had already been its worst month since March 2025. Chip stocks led the decline again, with Marvell Technology down 12.72 percent and Intel down 8.8 percent, and Oracle fell 8.85 percent. Money leaving technology and energy landed in the older parts of the index: consumer discretionary shares rose 2.25 percent, materials 1.83 percent and financials 1.76 percent, which is why the industrial heavy Dow finished up while the broader market finished down. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose a point to 55.5 in October, above what economists expected, and gold futures rose 1.5 percent to 3,955 dollars an ounce after falling below 3,900 dollars on Friday to their lowest in more than a year, as of November 2.

Apple shares dipped during the session ahead of the company's earnings report, which came after the close and beat expectations, as this site reports separately. What the market does with a falling oil price and a falling technology sector on the same day will be settled by voters first: Tuesday's election decides which party writes the tax and spending laws the market has been pricing all autumn.