While you were sleeping: US election nerves

Wall Street dropped amid concern about the US presidential election, while Federal Reserve policy makers began their two-day meeting.

An ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll showed Republican Donald Trump with 46% support to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 45%, according to Bloomberg.

However, Mrs Clinton held a five percentage point lead over Mr Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Monday.

This is down marginally since the FBI said last week it was reviewing new emails in its investigation of Mrs Clinton ahead of the election, according to Reuters.

Wall Street slid. In 2.24pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.4%. In 2.10pm trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 1.1%.

Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, soared, trading 19.3% higher at 20.35 at 2.17pm in New York, the highest level since June.

"This unbelievable election season we're going through isn't exactly engendering confidence," Philadelphia Trust chief investment officer Richard Sichel told Bloomberg.

"There's more uncertainty as nervousness reaches a crescendo in the final days. Earnings season is basically over, and while it was a pretty good one, there's nothing out there to trigger an up-move."

Slides in Pfizer and Apple shares, down 2.8% and 2.3% respectively, led the Dow lower.

Pfizer reported quarterly earnings that fell short of expectations.

The latest US economic data were lacklustre. An Institute for Supply Management report showed that its index rose to 51.9 in October, from 51.5 the previous month.

"The latest data suggest the manufacturing sector is starting to pick up some momentum following a weak run through most of the year so far," New York-based JPMorgan economist Daniel Silver told Reuters. "The sector is due for some improvement as some of the earlier drags that impacted the sector fade."

The Federal Open Market Committee is not expected to announce an interest rate increase at the end of its meeting on Wednesday, though most traders bet it will hike in December.

It wasn't all gloomy.

Bucking the trend were Chevron and Exxon Mobil shares, gaining 1.3% and 0.2% respectively.

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world's largest agricultural traders, rallied on better than expected quarterly results, bolstered by surging US exports of corn and soybeans.

"After working through the challenging environment in the first half of the year, we capitalised on improving operating conditions in the third quarter and are positioned well for a solid finish to the year," ADM chief executive Juan Luciano said.

"With improving market conditions and a large US harvest, combined with the team's solid execution capabilities, we feel good about the remainder of the year and a stronger 2017."

ADM shares traded 7.9% higher at 12.57pm in New York.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the session with a decline of 1.1% from the previous close. It was the lowest close since July 11, according to Bloomberg. The UK's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.5%, France's CAC 40 Index declined 0.9%, while Germany's DAX Index shed 1.3%.

(BusinessDesk)