Adviser Investments’ Chief Investment Officer Jim Lowell has the market analysis for Thursday, October 18. Major U.S. stock indexes fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ down 1.3%, 0.5% and 2.1%, respectively. Midterm election uncertainty and geopolitical tension contributed to today’s decline, and tariff-related issues particularly impacted industrial stocks: Caterpillar, which is scheduled to report earnings next week, declined nearly 4%; United Rentals, Snap-on and Textron each fell more than 5%. Meanwhile, American Express gained about 1% after the company beat analysts’ earnings and revenue expectations and announced an expansion of its PayPal partnership.