Co-founder, President and CEO of US technology company Nvidia, Jensen
Co-founder, President and CEO of US technology company Nvidia, Jensen Huang delivers his keynote speech next to computer components during the Nvidia GTC Berlin 2026 Artificial Intelligence conference, on October 21, 2026 in Berlin. John MACDOUGALL/Getty Images

The Nasdaq Composite was on course to confirm a correction on Thursday, Nov. 5, after chipmakers sold off on fears that the Democrats' midterm sweep would slow the US AI build-out, Reuters reported. At 12:24 p.m. ET the index was down 4.55% at 24,564.36, which would make it the worst day since the April 2025 tariff rout if the losses hold.

A correction means a 10% drop from the Oct. 6 record close. The narrower Nasdaq-100 confirmed its own correction on Monday.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index fell nearly 10%. Nvidia dropped 7.7%, Meta Platforms 3.8%, Amazon 1.7% and Alphabet 1%. Data-centre operators IREN and Applied Digital, neoclouds CoreWeave and Nebius, and AI-exposed power names such as GE Vernova and Constellation Energy all took steep losses. Tesla fell 9% and SpaceX 11.4%. The Nasdaq-100, down about 5.2%, was set to lose more than $2 trillion in market value if that holds.

The Democrats' wins included key data-centre states, which Reuters said fed concern about a slowdown in the AI build-out. Melissa Brown, global head of investment decision research at SimCorp, said investors appeared to be recognising that some newly elected members of Congress and governors want to slow AI infrastructure development. She said it seemed unlikely they could stop it altogether, but that any slowdown would worry markets because the AI growth story leans so heavily on that build-out.

Not every loss traced to politics. Qualcomm slid 11.5% after missing Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter smartphone chip sales. The S&P 500 was down 3.41% at 7,426.41 and the Dow 2.63% at 51,952.46, and every S&P sector was lower.

Attention now turns to Friday's US October non-farm payrolls report. Traders expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates next month after September's hike, Reuters said, and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Richmond Fed chief Thomas Barkin both hinted at further increases on Thursday.

Read more