U.S. stocks have ended the calmest session in recent memory with a mixed performance as investors looked past a weak reading on the manufacturing sector and focused on the election, the Associated Press reported.
The Dow Jones industrials moved in a range of just over 130 points - well below October's average daily swing of 594 points.
Stocks showed no lasting impact from a report Monday that U.S. manufacturing activity fell last month to its lowest level in 26 years.
While trading was quiet the calm doesn't necessarily suggest stocks have carved a definitive bottom; investors likely won't make big moves ahead of the election outcome.
The Dow is down 5, or 0.06 percent, at the 9,319 level, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 0.25 percent and the Nasdaq composite index is up 0.31 percent.