Market Summary

U.S. equities finished Tuesday’s midterm Election Day session mixed. A rebound in semiconductor and mega-cap technology stocks lifted the S&P 500 +0.36% to 7,568.99 and the Nasdaq Composite +0.82% to 25,392.40, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped -0.38% to 51,786.93. The gains partially recovered Monday’s technology-led selloff, but participation was far weaker than the day before. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit session highs early in the afternoon, up as much as 0.7% and 1.2%, before semiconductors gave back some gains. The Dow stayed negative all day.

The central theme was rapidly shifting leadership. On Monday, the broader market rallied while AI-related names sold off. Tuesday reversed that script, with investors returning to semiconductors and AI infrastructure while most other sectors lagged. Only four S&P 500 sectors finished higher: information technology (+1.3%), industrials (+1.0%), communication services (+0.9%) and real estate (+0.2%). Materials (-1.9%) and consumer staples (-1.8%) were the biggest laggards, reversing part of Monday’s outperformance. The S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index fell -0.4%, underscoring the narrow advance. The Russell 2000 and S&P Mid Cap 400 each gained +0.2% but gave up most of their earlier gains.

Macro backdrop: WTI crude was choppy on mixed U.S.-Iran headlines and settled -0.4% at $96.16. Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year at 4.95%. Investors are awaiting the midterm results and AMD’s earnings after the close, a key test for the AI trade.

Market Snapshot

Dow: 51,786.93, -197.26 (-0.38%)
Nasdaq: 25,392.40, +207.65 (+0.82%)
S&P 500: 7,568.99, +27.52 (+0.36%)
NYSE: Advancers 1,013, decliners 1,675, volume 1.41 bln
Nasdaq: Advancers 2,494, decliners 2,312, volume 8.39 bln
PHLX Semiconductor Index: +2.6% (after -3.4% Monday)
S&P 500 Equal Weighted: -0.4%
Russell 2000: +0.2%
S&P Mid Cap 400: +0.2%

WaveFinder breadth:

Primary sentiment: Bearish (762 bulls vs. 1,418 bears)
4% sentiment: Bullish (206 bulls vs. 142 bears)
40 SMA sentiment: Neutral
Above 20 SMA: 57%
Above 40 SMA: 51.61%
9M bulls 14 vs. bears 3; 9M bull follow-through 37.04%

Sector Performance

Ranked by the session’s percentage moves. Briefing.com gave exact figures for only some sectors; the rest are listed by its Weak group.

1. Information Technology: +1.3%
2. Industrials: +1.0%
3. Communication Services: +0.9%
4. Real Estate: +0.2%
5. Energy: -0.8%
6. Consumer Staples: -1.8%
7. Materials: -1.9%

Financials, Utilities and Health Care were also weak per Briefing’s Industry Watch, but no exact percentages were provided. Consumer Discretionary was not categorized as strong or weak and no daily change was given.

WaveFinder sector ATR (volatility):

Industrials: 0.91% (rising, P100)
Real Estate: 0.24% (rising, P95)
Financials: -0.69% (rising, P89)
Consumer Discretionary: 1.11% (rising, P84)
Materials: 2.31% (rising, P84)
Utilities: 3.00% (rising, P84)
Consumer Staples: 1.88% (flat, P63)
Health Care: 2.31% (flat, P53)
Communication Services: -1.53% (flat, P47)
Technology: -2.12% (flat, P5)
Energy: 0.16% (falling, P5)

Key Earnings & Movers

Gainers:

Bloom Energy (BE): $214.01, +$17.76 (+9.05%), on AI power infrastructure interest
GE Vernova (GEV): $918.20, +$55.95 (+6.49%), on electrical equipment and power infrastructure strength
AMD: $483.90, +$17.06 (+3.65%), ahead of earnings after the close
Meta (META): $621.03, +$14.30 (+2.36%); reportedly plans a bond sale of at least $20 bln (WSJ)
NVIDIA (NVDA): $206.69, +$4.63 (+2.29%)

Decliners:

Sysco (SYY): $74.11, -$7.63 (-9.33%), on weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue
ADM: $70.60, -$5.17 (-6.82%), on weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP): $34.74, -$2.08 (-5.65%), despite an earnings and revenue beat, on a slower U.S. coffee recovery
Apple (AAPL): $331.90, -$6.42 (-1.90%); better-than-expected results and strong iPhone and Mac sales were overshadowed by slowing Services growth, rising memory costs and AI spending
Palantir (PLTR): $175.40, -$2.94 (-1.65%), on strong earnings and guidance but a sharp slowdown in bookings growth

Other notable names:

Fabrinet (FN): rallying on a Q1 beat and strong Q2 outlook
DuPont (DD): trading higher on a beat-and-raise quarter

Stock Spotlight

Fabrinet (FN) rallied after a strong fiscal Q1 report and upbeat Q2 outlook. Adjusted EPS of $4.34 beat expectations, and revenue rose 51% yr/yr to $1.47 bln, the seventh straight quarter of accelerating growth. Q2 guidance of $4.77-$4.92 in EPS and $1.60-$1.65 bln in revenue is well above consensus, with the revenue midpoint implying 43% yr/yr growth. Data center revenue rose 78% yr/yr to $777 mln, about 69% of the $496 mln increase in total revenue. Communications infrastructure revenue rose 35% to $444 mln, and automotive, industrial and other rose 20% to $253 mln.

Management is expanding capacity aggressively, from about $5.8 bln in annual revenue capacity at the end of FY26 to $10 bln by January, driven by Building 10 in Thailand. Building 11 would add about $3 bln around the end of FY28. Optical circuit switching and near-packaged optics could each become multi-hundred-million-dollar opportunities. Risks include non-GAAP gross margin slipping 20 bps to 12.1% on FX, a $137 mln free cash outflow on $159 mln of CapEx, and tight component availability. Briefing.com sees the rally as partly relief after recent pressure on the shares.

Bond Market & Treasuries

Treasuries sold off on Election Day, with longer tenors leading the retreat after outperforming Monday. The 10-year note closed -11/32 at a 4.952% yield. Yields at the 15:18 ET update:

2-year: 4.62% (+3 bps)
3-year: 4.68% (+4 bps)
5-year: 4.74% (+5 bps)
10-year: 4.95% (+6 bps)
30-year: 5.32% (+6 bps)

Overnight U.S. strikes on Iranian targets pushed oil up early. Oil then dipped below its 50-day moving average (95.04) before recovering, and Treasuries followed the same pattern. The market ended near Friday’s lows. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.1% to 101.88. USD/JPY rose 0.6% to 158.72, and EUR/USD was unchanged at 1.1191.

Commodities

WTI crude: -0.4% to $96.16/bbl (settled $0.35 lower). It recovered from session lows after a volatile day.
Gold: -0.8% to $3,940.20/oz
Copper: -2.4% to $6.40/lb
Silver: no data provided

Overseas Markets

No Asian or European equity index data was provided. Headlines from the bond update:

Australia: the RBA raised its cash rate 25 bps to 4.85%, with three policymakers voting for no change.
China: the NDRC pledged extraordinary support for key technology breakthroughs. The PBOC cut its stock buyback relending rate 25 bps to 1.00%.
South Korea: October CPI +2.8% yr/yr (expected +2.9%) and +0.2% m/m (expected +0.3%).
Hong Kong: Q3 GDP +1.9% q/q and +5.2% yr/yr; September retail sales +6.4% yr/yr.
New Zealand: September building consents -7.9% m/m.
Switzerland: October CPI +0.2% m/m and +1.5% yr/yr, above expectations.
France: September budget balance EUR -159.2 bln.
Geopolitics: the U.S. will mediate a Russia-Ukraine leaders’ meeting in Abu Dhabi next Tuesday and Wednesday. President Trump said a deal has been reached to end military aid payments to Israel at year-end.

Economic Data

September Factory Orders: +1.8% m/m vs. 1.2% consensus; August revised up to +0.3% from +0.1%. Ex-transportation +1.3%, and shipments +1.3%. Gains were broad-based across transportation equipment, primary metals, fabricated metals, machinery, and computers and electronics.
September JOLTS job openings: 7.523 mln vs. 7.100 mln consensus; August revised to 7.190 mln from 7.079 mln. This was the first rise in five months and a positive labor market signal.

Both reports came in above expectations, contributing to the rise in Treasury yields.

Looking Ahead

Tonight: AMD reports after the close. Focus areas are the Q4 outlook, Data Center revenue growth, supply availability and the ramp of the Helios AI infrastructure platform. Midterm election results are also due.

Wednesday economic calendar (ET):

7:00: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior 3.4%)
8:15: October ADP Employment Change (consensus 75,000; prior 90,000)
8:30: September Trade Balance (consensus -$108.4 bln; prior -$105.6 bln) and Treasury quarterly refunding announcement
9:45: Final October S&P Global U.S. Services PMI (prior 57.9)
10:00: October ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (consensus 54.8; prior 54.9)
10:30: Weekly crude oil inventories (prior -1.892 mln)

Additional corporate earnings are also on Wednesday’s calendar. Key themes to watch are AI infrastructure financing needs, U.S.-Iran diplomacy and oil, and whether breadth improves after Tuesday’s narrow advance.