Wall Street delivered a brutal post-election whiplash on Thursday. Stocks had rallied Wednesday morning after the midterm elections, but that optimism evaporated quickly. By Thursday, the market had reversed course, with technology shares taking the hardest hit and more than $3 trillion wiped out.
The retreat centered on stocks tied to artificial intelligence, especially companies connected to chips and data centers. Those shares slid for a second straight day. CNBC reported that investors feared a Democratic sweep of both chambers of Congress, along with victories in key gubernatorial races, could slow the data-center buildout. Apparently, the market’s celebration had a shorter shelf life than a campaign promise.
The numbers were ugly across the major indexes. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.52 percent to close at 24,315.00, putting the tech-heavy index into correction territory after it fell more than 10 percent below a record set last month. The S&P 500 dropped 4.36 percent and ended at 7,353.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1,833.06 points, or 3.44 percent, settling at 51,523.06.
The Dow’s decline wiped out its advance from Wednesday’s massive postelection rally. All three major averages posted their worst day since April 2025. What looked like a burst of market confidence after the election turned into a very expensive change of mood, with technology stocks absorbing much of the punishment.
President Trump responded to the plunge with a message blaming the election results on Democrats. He wrote: “The Stock Market suffered one of the Worst Days in History based on the results of the Election. Such a sad thing to watch! It took so much work to get us to a level that no one has ever seen before, and then this. Your 401(k)s have, therefore, dropped. Remember, it wasn’t Republicans, it was Dumocrats. Do not fear, however, we will soon, one way or the other, be BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
There is no mistaking the political argument in that response. President Trump linked the market decline to the Democratic sweep and warned that retirement accounts had fallen along with stocks. He also tried to reassure supporters that the country would become “BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE,” turning a grim market session into another test of his economic message.
For investors, the immediate damage was plain. The Nasdaq suffered its steepest decline among the three major averages, the Dow surrendered its postelection gain, and the S&P 500 dropped more than four percent. The market’s reaction, as described by CNBC, reflected concern that a new political landscape could affect the pace of data-center construction. Wall Street, never known for modest reactions, answered that concern by erasing trillions in value in one day.
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