Nasdaq 100 Closes Down 6.36% in Worst Day Since March 2020, Dow Ends 1,833 Points Lower

Since Wednesday's post-midterm rally masked a slide in chip stocks, the selloff has run to a full-scale rout. The closing numbers for Thursday, Nov. 5, are in.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52%, or 1,421 points, to 24,315. That is its worst day since April 2025, when President Trump unveiled sweeping global tariffs, and it leaves the index more than 10% below its Oct. 6 record close. The S&P 500 dropped 334 points, or 4.36%, to 7,353. The Dow closed 1,833 points lower, wiping out all of Wednesday's 1,569-point gain.

The Nasdaq 100 sank 6.36%, its worst session since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Business Insider reported it is now down about 14% from its latest high after breaking below its 200-day moving average.

How much value disappeared

The dollar figure depends on the index. CNN put the loss at roughly $2.5 trillion in market value for the Nasdaq Composite. Crypto Briefing cited $2.3 trillion for the Nasdaq 100 on a 6.4% drop. An earlier Bloomberg tally, when the Nasdaq 100 was down about 5%, showed $1.9 trillion erased.

The numbers differ because they measure different indexes at different times. The direction is the same.

Despite the damage, the major indexes are still positive for the year. The Nasdaq is up roughly 5%, the Dow 7% and the S&P 500 7.4%, according to Epoch Times figures.

Chips and neoclouds took the worst of it

A closely watched chipmaker index fell 12.3%, its worst day in roughly six and a half years, per CNN. The iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped about 12%. Nvidia fell 9.3% and has erased its 2026 gains. Broadcom fell roughly 9% and Oracle about 7%.

Qualcomm dropped 9.5% a day after it missed estimates and said higher memory chip costs are hurting sales. Bloomberg also pointed to disappointing reactions to Arm Holdings' earnings.

Neocloud stocks, which rent out computing power for AI, were hit hardest. CoreWeave fell roughly 10% and Nebius roughly 15%. CoreWeave is down 76% from its June 2025 peak. Nebius is down 58% from its peak this June. Tesla fell 11% and SpaceX 9%.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors finished in the red, Bloomberg reported, with information technology down about 6%. Brent crude traded near $97 a barrel.

The Texas factor

Analysts keep returning to Texas. Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on a temporary data center moratorium and on ending certain tax incentives for data center builders. Google, Meta, Oracle and OpenAI have all made large investments in the state.

"The market is starting to discount that there could be more anti-data center regulations coming from the biggest state for data centers," said Ohsung Kwon, Wells Fargo's chief equity strategist. Jakub Rochlitz, an eToro market analyst, said investors are pricing in a slowdown of the AI buildout and "repricing growth expectations across the board."

Business Insider reported the selling accelerated into the afternoon as top lawmakers called for an immediate moratorium on data centers in social media posts. Fox News reported OpenAI has pledged to pay for data center power as Democrats float a nationwide moratorium.

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, said the narrative has shifted from "AI changes everything" to "Blue wave means data centers will never be built again in this country." Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Asset Management said Wednesday's rally "made no sense" and that "today's sell-off makes perfect sense. Expect more days like today."

Not everyone reads it as a verdict on policy

JPMorgan's equity derivatives team described the moves differently. Christina Jones wrote that the rotation looks "more like positioning-driven versus a true fundamental rotation," and said she is not seeing customers chasing laggards higher. She added that investors still favor large caps with clear access to financing, including some hyperscalers.

The earnings backdrop complicates the policy story. A majority of S&P 500 companies that have reported third-quarter results beat expectations, per Epoch Times. Business Insider noted traders have also been taking profits and punishing hyperscalers after earnings, even when the companies beat and signaled more spending discipline for 2027.

Retail investors sold more than $330 million of single stocks, the biggest day of selling since the pandemic crash, according to Vanda Analytics data cited by Business Insider.

What is still unsettled

Wednesday's rally had been driven partly by investors piling into hyperscalers on the theory that slower AI capital spending would help their financials. Thursday erased that logic. Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Holdings, said the neoclouds are "getting hit so hard" while the hyperscalers continue to do a little better.

Whether that split holds depends on what Hinojosa and congressional Democrats actually do on data centers. Hinojosa has called for a moratorium, but no statute or order halting construction has been cited in any of today's market commentary.