#stock-market

US stocks rallied on Wednesday, November 4, after Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections. The S&P 500 gained more than 1%. CNBC reports that strategists credited President Trump's statement overnight, to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, that he accepted the results and would work with Democrats, which eased fears of a drawn-out fight over the outcome.

The biggest tech companies led: during the session Amazon rose 8%, Alphabet more than 6%, Apple nearly 7%, Microsoft 4% and Meta 3%. JPMorgan Asset Management's David Kelly said divided government means 'moderation in growth, moderation in inflation, less uncertainty.' Stocks tied to the AI data center buildout and to Elon Musk fell: CoreWeave dropped 10%, after voters sided against data centers in 40 of 41 local ballot measures, according to CNBC.

The rally did not last: the next day the market gave back those gains and more.

US stocks had their steepest one-day drop since April 2025 on Thursday, November 5. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% and closed more than 11% below its October record, which puts it in correction territory; the S&P 500 lost about 4.4% and the Dow about 1,833 points, or 3.4%, according to CNBC.

AI-linked stocks led the decline as investors weighed whether Democratic wins in Tuesday's midterms, including a Texas governor-elect who campaigned on a data center moratorium, could slow data center construction. The tech sector fell 7.3%, its worst day since March 2020; the iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped 12%. The 'Magnificent Seven' lost more than $1 trillion in market value, with Nvidia down more than 9% and now negative for the year. The VIX volatility index posted its biggest point gain since April 2025.

CNBC notes that across 10 Nasdaq corrections in the past decade, the index averaged a 9.41% gain over the three months after the bottom, with 2022 the main exception.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% to 26,008.86 on October 22, its worst session since June, and the S&P 500 lost 1.21%, its worst since July. The Dow ended slightly higher. CNBC and Yahoo Finance tie the drop to renewed worries about AI spending after Meta's results, and to oil.

AMD fell more than 8%, Micron 6% and Nvidia about 4%. Neocloud CoreWeave dropped 10%. Power and equipment names linked to data centers fell hard: GE Vernova and Bloom Energy each lost more than 11% and Vistra more than 10%, CNBC reports.

Investors moved into bonds: the 10-year Treasury yield fell more than 17 basis points to about 4.97%, CNBC reports; Yahoo Finance said it was on track for the biggest one-day drop in more than two years.

Trading in blockchain versions of stocks is growing fast outside the U.S. Bitwise Asset Management's quarterly report says tokenized stock volume on Robinhood Chain went from $526 million in July to $11.31 billion in September, CNBC reports.

In the U.S., companies are pushing back. On October 19, OKXICE, the tokenized-securities venue launched by crypto exchange OKX and NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange, disclosed objections from Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald's, Western Digital and Alphabet, adding to earlier objectors including CoreWeave, UnitedHealth and Broadcom.

CNBC says the SEC's innovation exemption last month created a temporary path for tokenized stocks in the U.S. that requires companies be able to object. The debate centers on whether token holders should get the same rights as shareholders, including voting.