A sharp decline in crude oil prices and conciliatory statements from Donald Trump on Iran failed to provide meaningful support to Wall Street on Monday, as concerns over the returns on artificial intelligence spending continued to dominate market sentiment.

On the eve of the midterm elections, Wall Street closed in mixed territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.41% to finish at 51,983.98 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.51% to 7,541.40 points, while the Nasdaq dropped 1.07% to 25,164.32 points.

US Vice President-elect JD Vance and President Donald Trump expressed optimism over a possible negotiated agreement to end the armed conflict with Iran, highlighting progress in indirect talks mediated by third parties. Trump linked the diplomatic progress to a sharp drop of nearly ten dollars in crude oil prices, driven by receding expectations of war, and said Iran itself had requested an end to the killing of its leaders in exchange for a ceasefire, suggesting that the period of direct confrontation had been left behind.

Oil recorded one of its largest single-day declines of the year, with Brent and WTI shedding approximately 7% to 8%, following these diplomatic signals between the United States and Iran and indications that Trump favours a diplomatic path rather than further military strikes after the midterm elections. The easing of energy prices benefited several sectors but was not sufficient to sustain the indices most sensitive to technology stocks.

Concerns over artificial intelligence returned to weigh on markets. Following Friday’s heavy sell-off, investors continued to question whether the massive capital expenditure by major technology companies on AI infrastructure would generate returns quickly enough to justify the outlay. The technology sector dragged the Nasdaq and S&P 500 lower, overshadowing gains elsewhere in the market.

Shares in Marvell Technology fell sharply by 12.72% following the company’s announcement that it would acquire Lumentum Holdings — a manufacturer of optical components for data centres — for $115 billion. Oracle also declined, dropping 8.85%, after the company launched a $10 billion equity offering and simultaneously initiated a debt issuance of equal value.