United States stocks plunged on Thursday, led by a ferocious selloff in technology and artificial intelligence shares, in what turned out to be the worst day since April 2025 for all three major indexes. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52 percent to close at 24,315, the S and P 500 dropped 4.36 percent to 7,353.73, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,833 points, or 3.44 percent, to finish at 51,523.06. The drop more than wiped out Wednesday 1,570 point gain, and it put the Nasdaq more than 10 percent below its record from last month, which puts it in a stock market correction.
Why it matters
The damage was concentrated where the boom had been biggest. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a basket of 30 chip companies, plunged 12.25 percent, its second biggest fall on record, with every member lower. Nvidia sank 9.26 percent to 181.60 dollars, AMD plunged 17.26 percent to 404.40 dollars, Micron fell 17.46 percent, and SanDisk dropped 22 percent. Broadcom lost 10.43 percent and Intel fell 10.33 percent. The Nasdaq 100, which holds mostly chip and semiconductor linked stocks, fell more than 6 percent in its worst single day since March 2020, wiping out 2.3 trillion dollars in market capitalisation, the worst single day value erosion on record for the index.
Investors were reassessing what the Democratic sweep in the midterm elections means for the artificial intelligence buildout. A new Congress is expected to scrutinise data centre construction, semiconductor exports, competition and energy use, and voters in at least 29 jurisdictions approved bans or restrictions on data centre building. Texas, Georgia and Ohio, which together hold nearly a third of the country operating and planned data centre capacity, all elected Democratic governors. The market read that as slower approvals, tougher terms, and higher costs for the largest building programme in American industry.
What happens next
The selling spread far beyond chips. All 11 sectors of the S and P 500 ended lower, with technology down 7.3 percent, and Tesla fell about 9 percent while the seven largest technology stocks together lost more than 1 trillion dollars in market value. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang lost 15.1 billion dollars of personal wealth in a single day and is no longer among the 10 richest people in the world. Even so, a few names defied the rout. AppLovin jumped 31.04 percent and Krispy Kreme gained 30.68 percent, a reminder that a falling market still rewards individual results.
What happens next depends on data and on Washington. Friday brings the October jobs report, which will shape expectations for the Federal Reserve December meeting, and interest rate traders have already pushed back the expected timing of the next rate hike to March. A payroll figure close to the 65,000 consensus could steady nerves, while a strong number could revive hike bets and a weak one could deepen worries about growth. Either way, Thursday showed that the post election rally was built on an assumption, and that the market has now withdrawn it.
