The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% on Thursday, its biggest one-day drop since April 2025, as investors sold technology and AI infrastructure stocks after Democrats made sweeping gains in the U.S. midterm elections. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 6.4%, erasing roughly $2.5 trillion in market value, and the composite index entered correction territory, down nearly 12% from its October 6 record close. The decline extended the previous session's 3% Nasdaq drop and a trillion-dollar wipeout in technology shares, with Nvidia, Qualcomm and CoreWeave among the names facing renewed selling pressure.
The selloff came amid calls from prominent Democrats for a national data-center moratorium. Senator Bernie Sanders posted “National data center moratorium now,” citing local votes where 43 of 44 communities approved limits on data centers. Representative Yassamin Ansari said pausing AI development should be a Day 1 priority for the House majority, and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar replied “Yes!” In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro had already signed an executive order in August to slow data-center development, while Texas—which holds 27% of planned U.S. capacity, according to Wells Fargo—could face new restrictions after Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Governor Greg Abbott.
Chip, cloud and data-center stocks were hit hardest. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 12% to its lowest level in more than six months. Nvidia dropped 9%, Advanced Micro Devices fell 17%, CoreWeave slid 10%, and Nebius dropped 15%—with CoreWeave and Nebius both losing more than half their value since October 6. CoreWeave’s five-year credit default swap spreads widened to a record 1,267.9 basis points, and Intel’s spreads also hit a record at 149.7 basis points, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Data-center operators Applied Digital, Cipher Digital and IREN each fell more than 14%. Microsoft declined 3.6% and Bloomberg News reported it is tightening oversight of some data-center projects from Nebius, IREN and Nscale.
UBS analysts estimated that around 30% of expected U.S. data-center capacity additions in 2028 could be at risk from construction pauses. The VIX posted its largest increase since December 2024, and markets in Japan and South Korea fell after the U.S. rout. Some analysts said the selloff could affect the timing of Anthropic’s expected fall IPO. For crypto markets, the episode is a risk-off signal, with particular attention on mining and AI-infrastructure-linked names that may face spillover pressure.
