Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks lift the US market despite drops for
Apple and much of Wall Street
[November 04, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — A rebound for some influential Big Tech stocks lifted
the U.S. market on Tuesday despite a drop for Apple and mixed trading
elsewhere on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, even though most of the stocks within the index
fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 197 points, or 0.4%, and
the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8%.
The stock market has been shaky recently as technology and
artificial-intelligence stocks swing on worries their prices shot too
high in the frenzy around AI. Several of the most influential AI-related
stocks were firmer Tuesday, which supported the market, after flipping
from gains in the morning to losses in the afternoon a day earlier.
Nvidia rose 2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P
500. Close behind was another chip company, Broadcom, which rose 3.1%.
Also boosting the market were several companies that are spending
heavily on AI. Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms all rose more than
2%.
Apple was long seen on Wall Street as a Big Tech company that’s less
dependent on AI. But it’s still feeling the effects of the AI boom.
Memory chips for computers have become more expensive because of the
demand created by the rush to build AI data centers. Those higher costs
are hitting Apple, which said it expects to make less profit from each
$1 of its revenue during the final three months of this year.
That helped send Apple’s stock down 1.9%, even though the seller of
iPhones and Mac computers reported stronger profit and revenue for the
latest quarter than analysts expected.
Palantir Technologies fell 1.6% even though it likewise reported a
better profit than expected. The software company said it made more
money working with U.S. companies than from the U.S. government for the
first time, as U.S. commercial revenue soared 148% from a year earlier.
The market's moves came as voters cast their ballots in Tuesday’s
midterm elections, where the rising cost of living and AI were issues
that crossed party lines.
History suggests such elections may not matter much for the broad
market. Going back to 1970, the S&P 500 has had a positive return every
time in the six months following a midterm election, according to Brock
Weimer, an analyst at Edward Jones.
Some on Wall Street speculate that a Democratic sweep of Congress this
time around could lead to more regulations and restrictions on AI
development. But Donald Trump would still be president and have the
power to veto. And Wall Street generally prefers split control of
Washington, which it sees as offering less risk of transformative
policies that could reshape the economy.
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Traders Jonathan Mueller, left, and Michael Capolino work on the
floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP
Photo/Richard Drew, File)
 On the winning side of Wall Street
Tuesday were stocks of several companies that reported stronger
profits for the summer than analysts expected.
DuPont rallied 8.6% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500, and
Celanese climbed 5%.
Revvity rose 7.8% after the life sciences company topped analysts’
expectations and CEO Prahlad Singh said end market conditions are
continuing to improve.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 27.52 points to 7,568.92. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 197.26 to 51,786.72, and the Nasdaq
composite climbed 207.65 to 25,372.01.
Expectations are high for all kinds of companies to continue to
deliver big gains in profits as the U.S. economy keeps chugging
along, even with high inflation and elevated interest rates. That
helped send the S&P 500 to a record high last month.
An encouraging report on the U.S. job market said Tuesday that
employers were advertising more job openings at the end of September
than economists expected. That helped push the yield on the 10-year
Treasury up to 4.96% from 4.91% late Monday.
In the oil market, prices continued to swing. Brent crude climbed
above $107 per barrel overnight before briefly dropping below $101
in the morning amid continued uncertainty about what will happen in
the war with Iran. It settled at $103.60, down 1.1% from Monday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a mixed
finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 3.6% for one of the
world’s sharpest moves due to losses for its two tech giants,
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Stocks rose 0.3% in Australia after the country’s central bank
raised its benchmark interest rate for the fifth time this year.
___
AP Writers Elaine Lai, David McHugh and Rod McGuirk contributed to
this report.
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