Stock Market Today: Stocks Fall Ahead of Election Day

Stocks opened lower on Monday and recovered, but ultimately ended in the red during the last regular trading session before U.S. Election Day. Beneath the surface, one Magnificent Seven stock has replaced another to top the global market capitalization rankings. Also on the horizon is Thursday’s Federal Open Market Committee decision.

Let’s start with news about individual stocks. Nvidia (NVDA) added 0.5% after the S&P Dow Jones index reported semiconductor material will replace Intel (INTC), which at the opening this Friday, November 8, was down 2.9% on the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average. Everything You Need to Know About NVDA’s INTC Replacement in the Dow.

Nvidia is now the world’s No. 1 company in market capitalizationsurpassing Apple (AAPL), which fell 0.4% after Warren Buffett’s announcement. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) reported selling approximately 25% of its position in AAPL, or 100 million shares.

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Buffett and Berkshire currently own about 300 million shares of AAPL, which had a market value of $69.9 billion as of Sept. 30. Since the end of the third quarter of 2023, they have reduced their ownership by 67.2%.

The Oracle of Omaha and his firm, who also unloaded a significant portion of their Bank of America (TANK) are now sitting on a $352.2 billion cash pile, according to Berkshire Q3 2024 Earnings Report.

On the last day of the US presidential campaign Dow closed down 0.6% to 41,794. S&P 500 Index It traded near the breakeven line for most of the session before slipping 0.3% to 5,712. Nasdaq CompositeMeanwhile, the stock lost 0.3% to close at 18,179.

Stocks on the move

Tesla (TSLA) shares fell more than 2% ahead of the election, during which the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s CEO played a singular role in the Republican presidential campaign.

Really, TSLA extends its losing streak to six straight days – the longest since April – sending shares into negative territory for the year.

“We believe a Trump presidency will be overall negative for the EV industry, as EV rebates and tax credits will likely be eliminated,” Wedbush says. Daniel Ives. Ives, however, sees Trump’s victory as a potential positive for TSLA, albeit with some caveats.

“Tesla has scale and scope unmatched in the EV industry, and these dynamics could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-subsidized EV environment, coupled with likely higher Chinese tariffs that will continue to discourage cheaper Chinese electric cars. players from flooding the US market in the coming years,” notes Ives.

Ives expects that if Harris wins Tax incentives for electric vehicles will remain in place “and eventually increase in 2025 as the goal of getting more U.S. consumers to adopt electric vehicles becomes a focus of the Harris administration.”

Constellation Energy (KEGThe company’s shares fell more than 12% after the clean energy producer beat expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit but was dogged by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision to reject a nuclear power proposal from Amazon.com (AMZN).

Even after today’s fall, CEG shares have nearly doubled this year.

Viking Therapeutics (VKTH) shares were very volatile during the afternoon trading session, rising 7% at the open but ending the day down 13% following the biopharmaceutical company’s report. positive data about diet pill.

Investors weigh election uncertainty

Amid a relatively weak day for economic data, the Census Bureau said this morning that orders for new industrial products in September decreased by 0.5% compared to the previous month to $584.2 billion, which is in line with the consensus forecast. Factory orders fell 0.8% in August and have fallen in four of the past five months.

After a softer-than-expected October jobs report, futures traders are pushing prices higher probability 98% The Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) over its meeting this weekAccording to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reversed course after rising for weeks and fell nine basis points to 4.302% from Friday’s close of 4.397%, its biggest one-day decline in two months. (Basis point = 0.01%).

Meanwhile, ICE BofA MOVE Index (MOVE), a measure of bond market volatility, hit its highest level in a year on Monday as investors adjust rates ahead of the election and the FOMC statement.

We continue to monitor the progress of the campaign as it relates to your portfolio and your wallet. our live election blog.

Job growth slowed in September

On economic calendardata from Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the US added just 12,000 jobs in October, well below economists’ estimates of 113,000 new positions. Job growth for August and September was revised down by 112,000 jobs combined.

There was a lot of noise in this report due to the recent hurricanes in Florida and Boeing (bachelor) workers’ strike. However, some signs of stability and resilience remained, “in particular, stable unemployment rates with steady income growth,” he says. Scott AndersonChief US Economist at BMO Capital Markets.

In other economic news: Institute of Supply Management (ISM) reported that the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 46.5% in October from 47.2% in September.

The index “has now signaled a decline in activity (reading below 50) for almost two years in a row,” says a Wells Fargo economist. Tim Quinlan. “But the simple need to replace equipment, coupled with some clarity in the post-election environment, should support upcoming capital spending plans.”