NEW YORK » Wall Street ended the calmest session in recent memory with a narrowly mixed performance yesterday as investors largely looked past a weak reading on the manufacturing sector and focused on the election.

Before finishing essentially flat, the Dow Jones industrials moved in a range of 155 points - well below October's average daily swing of 594. While trading was quiet, including the often-volatile final hour, the calm doesn't necessarily mean the market has overcome all its worries; analysts said investors weren't making big moves ahead of the voting.

Stocks showed little lasting impact from the Institute for Supply Management report that its measure of U.S. manufacturing dropped last month to the lowest level since September 1982 as credit conditions tightened and disruptions remained from Hurricane Ike. The trade group said its index of manufacturing activity fell to 38.9 from 43.5 in September, well below the 41.5 economists predicted, according to Thomson/IFR.

A separate report showed construction spending fell by a smaller-than-expected amount in September as a rebound in nonresidential activity helped offset further weakness in home building. The U.S. Commerce Department said construction spending fell by 0.3 percent in September, less than the 0.8 percent decline many economists expected.

The range of data support the growing belief that the economy is in recession, hurt by a drop in lending and slower overall spending

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.18, or 0.06 percent, to 9,319.83, after rising as much as 86 and falling 70. The day's trading range was its lowest since Sept. 3.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.45, or 0.25 percent, to 966.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.38, or 0.31 percent, to 1,726.33.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.98, or 0.18 percent, to 538.50.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a light 4.36 billion shares compared with 6.23 billion traded Friday.

The key bank-to-bank lending rate known as Libor was unchanged with Friday's rate of 3.03 percent for three-month dollar loans. A fall in the London Interbank Offered Rate indicates that banks are more willing to lend to one another.

Investors' demand for short-term government debt remained high, however, a sign that they are still cautious. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, seen as one of the safest assets around, rose to 0.47 percent from 0.43 percent Friday. A higher yield indicates decreased demand.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.91 percent from 3.96 percent late Friday.

The dollar rose against most other major currencies. Gold prices also rose.

Light, sweet crude fell $3.87 to settle at $63.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.