Two days ago I posted about Nasdaq futures sliding overnight after the midterm sweep and then paring losses.

Two days ago I posted about Nasdaq futures sliding overnight after the midterm sweep and then paring losses. Thursday's session went much further. The Nasdaq fell 5.5%, its deepest one-day drop in 19 months, and confirmed a correction. Reuters put the hit at about $2.5 trillion of Nasdaq 100 market value.

Chip stocks and neoclouds took the steepest hits. onsemi fell 11.6% to $63.01 and closed less than half a percent off its session low, with no company-specific news behind it. Names like Nebius and CoreWeave were already dealing with financing-cost pressure after rates climbed late summer.

The trigger is the worry that a Democratic Congress, along with wins in some key data-center states, means tougher AI regulation and a slower data-center buildout. Michael O'Rourke at JonesTrading says that slowdown is "the real key theme that's going to stick." Jane Gibbons at Jefferies views the selloff as reactionary, driven by a mix of concerns about AI spend, policy and inflation.

Nasdaq 100 futures are up about 1.3% this morning, and onsemi is up 3.8% pre-market, so the bounce case has some support. Still, I find O'Rourke's read more convincing. Much of the AI trade has rested on the buildout continuing without interruption. Thursday looked like the market starting to price in political risk to that assumption, and I doubt one green morning undoes it.

Sources:
Reuters via The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2026/11/06/investors-wipe-25-trillion-off-nasdaq-as-democrats-win-prompts-ai-fears
Reuters via Sacramento Bee: https://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article317954424.html

Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.