The stock market's post-election celebration hit a wall Thursday as a brutal technology sell-off sent the Dow tumbling more than 1,100 points and pushed the Nasdaq into correction territory.
Investors dumped artificial intelligence stocks amid fears that Democrats' victories in Congress and key governor's races could bring tighter restrictions on the industry's massive expansion.
The rout wiped out the Nasdaq Composite's gains from Wednesday. The tech-heavy index plunged 4.9%, trading more than 10% below last month's record, the threshold for a correction.
The S&P 500 dropped 3.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,136 points, or 2.1%. The Dow surrendered more than half of Wednesday's surge despite gains in Chevron and Johnson & Johnson.
Just a day earlier, Wall Street had rallied as investors digested Democrats' capture of comfortable majorities in the House and Senate. The Dow soared more than 1,500 points for its strongest session since April 2025, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each climbed more than 1%.
By Thursday, some of the biggest names in the AI boom were taking a beating for a second straight session.
Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle each fell 9%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF, which tracks chip stocks, sank 11%.
Qualcomm fared even worse. Its shares plunged 13% after a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast overshadowed quarterly results that topped estimates.
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The selling extended to Elon Musk's companies, with Tesla and SpaceX each dropping 10%.
Companies supplying cloud computing capacity for AI also suffered steep losses. CoreWeave slid 14%, Nebius fell 17% and Iren shed 19% as investors weighed the prospect of greater resistance to data center development following the elections.
"A shakeout among the most speculative parts of the theme is underway," said MRB Partners in a Thursday note. "The U.S. mid-term election results will add to headwinds for big tech and the data center buildout."
Investors found some shelter in more defensive stocks. Consumer staples rose more than 1%, while utilities and energy stocks also gained.
Oil prices, meanwhile, reversed part of Wednesday's sharp decline.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed more than 2% to just above $90 a barrel. Brent crude futures also rose more than 2%, trading around $97.
U.S. crude had fallen below $90 Wednesday as investors bet Democrats could use their newly won power in Congress to pressure President Donald Trump to end the Iran war.
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