Oil Prices Fall Over 6% as US Stocks Rise on First November Trading Day
Crude oil prices dropped more than 6% on Monday, prompting gains across major US indexes, while investors await corporate earnings and the upcoming midterm elections.
International crude oil prices slid more than 6% on Monday, with Brent Crude futures dipping to about $106 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling to just above $97. The decline was linked to reports that Iran’s president said the Supreme Leader had granted the government specific authority to pursue peace talks with the United States, easing concerns about Middle East energy-supply disruptions.
The drop in energy prices helped lift all three major Wall Street indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 537.86 points, or 1.04%, to 52,308.17; the S&P 500 gained 44.29 points, or 0.58%, to 7,623.22; and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 183.02 points, or 0.72%, to 25,620.02. The advance-decline ratio on the New York Stock Exchange was about 3.13 to 1, indicating broad buying pressure.
Tech stocks showed mixed performance. Nvidia added 1.5%, Amazon jumped 4.1% and Microsoft rose, while Marvell Technology fell 6.1% and Lumentum dropped 10.5% after Marvell announced a $115 billion all-stock acquisition of the optical communications firm. Oracle slipped 5.8% following a filing that disclosed plans to raise $20 billion through bonds and stock sales, and Intel declined another 2.6% after forecasting quarterly revenue below expectations.
Analysts noted that while AI-related stocks remain attractive, investors are cautious about capital-expenditure funding amid higher borrowing costs. Horizon’s head of research and quantitative strategy, Dixon, said the market still sees “abundant return potential” in other sectors.
The week ahead features a heavy earnings schedule, with Apple, McDonald’s, Qualcomm and AMD set to report, alongside the non-farm payrolls data. Multi-asset strategist Kiran Ganesh of UBS Global Wealth Management warned that volatility could persist through the earnings season.
In the political arena, the November 3 midterm elections will decide whether Democrats can regain control of the House from Donald Trump's Republican Party, while the Senate remains contested. Dixon added that, regardless of the outcome, stock market trends have historically remained stable.
Recent US manufacturing data showed an uptick in activity for October, driven by solid domestic demand, even as raw-material prices stay elevated. The combination of lower energy costs, earnings expectations and political uncertainty continues to shape market sentiment.