The Dow just had its best month since 1976

Dow Jones Industrial Average
(Image credit: Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images)

U.S. stocks closed down Monday as investors digested this quarter's mixed earnings reports and braced for the Federal Reserve's next interest rate hike, but the major indexes ended October in positive territory and the Dow Jones Industrial Average locked in its best month since 1976. The Dow rose 14 percent in October, while the S&P 500 and tech-heaving Nasdaq gained 8 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Tech stocks are having a bad few weeks on disappointing earnings reports, but investors are betting that traditional stocks like banks will lead the next bull market, The Wall Street Journal reports. Mostly, though, the markets are waiting to see what Fed chairman Jerome Powell says Wednesday, after the Fed's two-day monthly policy meeting.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.