Stock market today: Wall Street drifts ahead of Election Day and a manic week for markets

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted lower Monday ahead of a momentous week full of potential flashpoints in Washington, D.C., and around the world.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, though it remains near its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 257 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.

Intel fell 2.9%, and chemical producer Dow sank 2.1% in their first trading since getting notified they’ll no longer be included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dropped 2.2% and was one of the heaviest weights on the market after reporting a drop in operating profit for the latest quarter.

But the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 rose, including a 2.8% gain for Fox after it reported a stronger profit than expected. That was despite increases in some costs, including for newsgathering at Fox News to cover this election cycle.

Election Day will arrive Tuesday, though its result may not be known for some time as officials count all the votes. That’s raised fears about the possibility of sharp swings around the world because markets infamously hate uncertainty.

History may be less foreboding. The broad U.S. stock market has historically gone on to rise regardless of which party wins the White House. And in 2020, U.S. stocks climbed immediately after Election Day and kept going even after former President Donald Trump refused to concede and challenged the results, creating plenty of uncertainty. A large part of that rally was due to excitement about the potential for a vaccine for COVID-19, which had just shut down the global economy.

“Bottom line – the US election is incredibly important, but the process is likely to be incredibly noisy,” according to Michael Zezas, a strategist at Morgan Stanley.

For markets, Zezas also points to how prices may have already moved ahead of expected outcomes from the election. A win for Trump this election could mean U.S. tariffs on Mexican imports, for example, which could hurt the value of the Mexican peso. But the peso has already fallen against the U.S. dollar in recent months, which could limit further moves if a Trump win were actually to happen.

A Trump victory would be less of a surprise to markets this time around than in 2016, when Treasury yields soared on expectations for tax cuts that could further inflate the nation’s debt or fuel a stronger U.S economy. Treasury yields have already climbed in recent weeks, in part due to rising expectations in some market corners for a Trump win, along with a spate of data showing the U.S. economy has remained stronger than feared.

On Monday, Treasury yields gave back a chunk of those gains. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.29% from 4.38% late Friday.

Another investment that’s become a barometer in the market for Trump’s perceived chances of victory swung sharply through the day. After veering between losses and gains through the morning, Trump Media & Technology Group ended up rising 12.4%.

The stock of the company behind Trump’s Truth Social platform had been ripping higher from a bottom in September, until it hit a wall last week and dropped at least 11% in three straight days.

In the oil market, the price for a barrel of U.S. crude rose 2.8% to $71.03 after Saudi Arabia and other oil producers said they would delay plans to increase the amount of crude they produced. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.7% to $75.08 for a barrel.

The price of Brent is still down for the year so far, in part because of worries about how much demand will come from China given its economic challenges.

The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress is meeting this week, and analysts say the government may endorse major spending initiatives to boost economic growth amid troubles for the country’s real-estate industry.

Beyond that meeting and Election Day in the United States, this week will also feature the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve, where the widespread expectation is for it to cut its main interest rate for a second straight time.

The hope that’s propelled U.S. stock indexes to records recently is that the U.S. economy can remain resilient and avoid a long-feared recession, in part because of the coming cuts to rates expected from the Fed.

On Wall Street, Nvidia rose 0.5%, and Sherwin-Williams jumped 4.6% after learning they’ll be replacing Intel and the parent of the Dow chemical company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Stocks fell in the nuclear power industry after U.S. regulators denied a request that would have sent more electricity to an Amazon data center from a Pennsylvania nuclear plant run by Talen Energy. Companies across the power industry have been making deals with data center operators to feed their growing need for more electricity, and Talen fell 2.2%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 16.11 points to 5,712.69. The Dow dropped 257.59 to 41,794.60, and the Nasdaq composite lost 59.93 to 18,179.98.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe after rising in much of Asia.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Michael Milano, foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Michael Capolino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Robert Chamak, left, and specialist James Denaro work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Stephen Naughton work at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Meric Greenbaum work at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Anthony Matesic works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 shows a broadcast talking about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

FILE - A sign marking Wall Street is shown near Trinity Church in New York's Financial District on Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

A food vendor's cart is parked across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Currency traders talk near the screen showing the foreign exchange rates at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher as China begins major economic meeting

Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher as China begins major economic meeting

A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up criticism of Israel for not doing enough to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza as a 30-day deadline looms for Israeli officials to meet certain requirements or risk potential restrictions on military assistance.

The administration also is condemning recent violence against Palestinians in the West Bank by extremist Jewish settlers and says those responsible must be held to account.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Monday gave Israel a “fail” grade in terms of meeting the conditions for an improvement in aid deliveries to Gaza laid out in a letter last month to senior Israeli officials by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

He said there were still roughly nine days until the deadline expires, but that limited progress thus far has been insufficient.

“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around,” Miller told reporters. “We have seen an increase in some measurements. But if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met.”

A day before the election, the Biden administration called out its close ally, with support for Israel a key issue for many voters and the humanitarian crisis for Palestinians also a factor for many in the race. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been competing for Muslim and Arab American voters and Jewish voters in battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Among other conditions, Austin and Blinken's letter from mid-October said that Israel must allow in a minimum of 350 trucks a day carrying desperately needed food and other supplies for Palestinians besieged by more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas. By the end of October, an average of just 71 trucks a day were entering Gaza, according to the latest U.N. figures.

“The results are not good enough today,” Miller said. “They certainly do not have a pass. … They have failed to implement all the things that that we recommended. Now, that said, we are not at the end of the 30-day period.”

He would not say when asked what the U.S. would do when the deadline comes up next week, just that “we will follow the law.”

Similarly, Austin has been reinforcing “how important it is to ensure that humanitarian assistance can flow and flow faster into Gaza” in calls with his Israeli counterpart, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Monday.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, known as COGAT, said it had evacuated 72 patients from hospitals in northern Gaza to other medical facilities Monday and had brought medical supplies as well as fuel, food, water and units of blood.

The head of UNICEF, the U.N. agency for children, said over the weekend that “the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza, especially children, is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine, and the ongoing bombardments.”

Miller also said the U.S. is looking into a decision by the Israeli government to end an agreement facilitating the work of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, which is the main aid provider in Gaza.

It followed the passage of Israeli laws last week to sever ties with UNRWA, a move that Blinken and Austin opposed in their letter.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that it has notified the U.N. of the cancellation of an agreement dating back to 1967 that facilitates UNRWA’s work. It said UNRWA “is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution.”

Israel alleges that UNRWA has been infiltrated by Hamas, which the agency denies and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that UNRWA is essential and there is no alternative to its work in the Palestinian territories, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

At the same time, Miller said the U.S. is “deeply concerned” by a recent escalation in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, including several cars being torched overnight just a few kilometers (miles) away from the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters and attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives, their livestock and other property.

“These violent actions cause intense human suffering for Palestinians and they threaten Israel’s security,” Miller said. “It is critical that the government of Israel deter extremist settler violence and take measures to protect all communities from harm in accordance with its international obligations.”

He noted that the U.S. has since the beginning of the year imposed sanctions against Israeli groups and people implicated in violence against Palestinian civilians and warned of more to come.

AP reporters Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Palestinians gather to receive bags of flour distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)