Stock market today: live updates

Stocks fluctuated between gains and losses on Monday as investors prepared for the highly anticipated U.S. presidential election.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 110 points or 0.3%. The S&P 500 And Nasdaq Composite rose about 0.1% each after falling earlier in the session.

The muted stock moves came as safe-haven U.S. Treasury bonds rallied, suggesting some investors may be reducing risk ahead of Election Day.

Nvidia shares rose 1.5% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Friday that the chipmaker would replace rival Intel in the 30-stock Dow. The change, which will take effect at the end of the week, comes as Nvidia continues to gain ground while Intel lags behind in the artificial intelligence race.

Nvidia is up 176% year-to-date, while Intel has lost more than half of its value in that period.

Tuesday's election results could play a crucial role in how stocks end the year. The latest NBC News poll shows a “deadlocked race” between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

However, much of the market aftershocks could depend more on which party takes control of Congress. If control of the US House of Representatives and Senate is split, it would likely mean maintaining the status quo. However, a Republican or Democratic victory would likely be matched by the same party winning the White House and could mean new spending plans or tax reform.

Some on Wall Street view the election as a key obstacle that markets must overcome to recover by year's end.

“The US elections are incredibly important, but the process will likely be incredibly noisy. A little patience and a plan can be the difference between seeing through the noise or getting lost in it,” Morgan Stanley strategist Michael Zezas said in a note to clients.

Parallel to the election, Wall Street is preparing for the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision. According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders expect a 96 percent chance of a rate cut at the end of the central bank's policy meeting. It would follow an outsized 50 basis point move in September.

More focus will be on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments as Wall Street looks for further insight into the central bank's interest rate moves from here.

—CNBC's Sarah Min contributed reporting