THE ALASKA STORY
Nov. 5, 2026 – Wall Street’s post-election rally lasted one session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,833 points Thursday, Nov. 5, as investors sold off chipmakers and other stocks tied to artificial intelligence, wiping out the previous day’s gains across all three major US indexes.
The Dow fell 3.4% to 51,523.06. The S&P 500 lost 334.89 points, or 4.4%, to close at 7,353.73, its worst day since the April 2025 tariff sell-off. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1,421.52 points, or 5.5%, to 24,315, putting it more than 10% below its recent high and into correction territory.
The reversal came two days after Democrats won control of both the US House and Senate in the Nov. 3 midterms. On Wednesday, the Dow had jumped 1,569 points, or 3%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq rose 1.4%. The results cleared up uncertainty over who would control Congress. Crude prices also tumbled as traders weighed prospects for easing the conflict with Iran, while Treasury yields and the dollar fell. President Donald Trump acknowledged that the Iran war played a role in Republican losses.
By Thursday, investors were weighing what the election could mean for the companies supplying the AI boom. Concerns about tougher scrutiny of major technology companies and possible restrictions on new data centers added to existing doubts about how quickly companies could earn back the billions they are spending on AI infrastructure. A slowdown in construction could curb demand for the chips and equipment that go into those facilities.
Nvidia fell about 9% and AMD dropped about 17%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost roughly 12%, its second-largest one-day decline on record. The losses spread well beyond technology, with all 11 sectors of the S&P 500 closing lower.
The sell-off carried into Friday trading in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei fell about 6% in early trading, and South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI briefly dropped more than 8%, triggering a trading halt.
