Nasdaq traders finally got a breather on Election Day. After three straight down days, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.83% to close at 25,372.01 on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, and, as CNBC reported, it “closed at a session high” as chip stocks rebounded. The Nasdaq-100 rose 0.7% to 28,180.26, and the S&P 500 added 0.36% to 7,568.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went the other way, slipping 0.4%, down about 200 points, according to MarketWatch. It was a split screen: tech up, blue chips down, and an election in the background.
That split is the story. The index had been sliding for three days, dragged down by worries about chip demand, stretched valuations and a market that had run hard into the autumn. On Election Day, buyers came back to the chip names first. They did not come back to everything, and the Dow’s fall showed that the mood was selective, not euphoric.
Investors had a lot to weigh on Tuesday, and the election was only part of it. Earnings, interest-rate expectations and the next round of chip results were all in play, and the market’s reaction was to buy the names that had been sold hardest in the previous three days, while trimming the older industrial and bank names that make up much of the Dow.
Nasdaq chip stocks lead the rebound
Chip stocks did the heavy lifting. Advanced Micro Devices, which reported third-quarter results that beat expectations, jumped late in the session, and other chip names followed. That is a familiar pattern in a chip-led market: when one big chipmaker beats, traders buy the whole group, at least for a day, and the tech index, which is heavy with technology names, rises with them.
Not every tech name joined in. Apple and Palantir tumbled, according to market reporting, a reminder that a rebound does not mean every stock rises. The index is an average, and averages hide a lot. On Tuesday, the winners were concentrated in chips, while some of the biggest consumer and software names lagged, and that concentration is why the Nasdaq-100 rose less than the broader Composite.
The S&P 500’s smaller gain, 0.36%, tells the same story in a different way. The S&P is broader, with banks, energy, healthcare and industrials alongside technology, and those sectors did not all rise. The tech gain was a tech story, not a whole-market story, and the Dow’s 0.4% fall was the other side of that same coin.
Why the Dow slipped while the tech index rose
The Dow is a price-weighted index of 30 large companies, and it is far less tech-heavy than the Nasdaq. When traders rotate into chips and out of industrials, banks and older consumer names, the Dow can fall even on a day when the tech index rises. That rotation, not a single headline, explains much of Tuesday’s split.
Election Day added a layer of caution. With Americans voting in the midterms, traders were waiting to see which party would control Congress and what that would mean for spending, taxes and regulation. In that kind of wait, money tends to move to names with a clear near-term story, like a chipmaker that just beat earnings, and away from names whose outlook depends more on Washington.
None of this means the three-day slide is over for good. One strong day does not erase three weak ones, and the index still has to hold its gains in the sessions that follow. What Tuesday did do was break the run of falls, give chip bulls a reason to stay in, and show that buyers are still willing to step in when prices drop.
Sources and Resources
The row’s source for this story is here: Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq – November 3, 2026 – Investopedia. Note: the Investopedia page was blocked in this browser, so the closing levels and moves above are taken from the same Election Day session as reported by CNBC and MarketWatch, which are linked in the reporting of that session. Related coverage on this site: America votes in 2026 midterms as more than 54 million early ballots are cast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Nasdaq really snap a three-day slide?
Yes. The Composite had fallen for three straight sessions before Tuesday, then rose 0.83% to 25,372.01 on Election Day, helped by a rebound in chip stocks.
Why did the Dow fall if the Nasdaq rose?
The Dow is less tech-heavy, so a rotation into chip stocks and out of industrials and banks can lift the tech index while the Dow slips. On Tuesday the Dow fell 0.4%, about 200 points.
Which chip stock stood out?
Advanced Micro Devices stood out after reporting third-quarter results that beat expectations. Its late jump helped pull other chip names higher.
What happened to the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 rose 0.36% to 7,568.92, a smaller gain than the tech index, because it includes many sectors that did not rise as fast as technology.
Does one good day mean the market is fixed?
No. One rebound day breaks a slide, but it does not guarantee the next sessions will rise. Traders will watch earnings, rates and the midterm results before deciding if the rebound holds.
Conclusion
Nasdaq investors went home on Election Day with something they had not had for three days: a green close. The Composite rose 0.83% to 25,372.01, the Nasdaq-100 added 0.7%, and chip stocks, led by AMD after a better-than-expected quarter, did the work. The Dow slipped 0.4%, the S&P rose a more modest 0.36%, and the split told the real story: this was a chip rebound, not a whole-market rally. Whether it holds will depend on what comes next, in earnings, in rates, and in Washington, but for one day, at least, the index stopped sliding.
