Nasdaq Falls Into Correction as Investors Fear Democratic Wins Will Slow AI Data Centers

The Nasdaq Composite fell about 5% to 5.5% on Thursday, entering correction territory, as investors worried that Democratic midterm wins would slow construction of data centers that power artificial intelligence. By the close the index was more than 10% below its recent record, with over $2 trillion in value erased. It was the Nasdaq's worst day in 18 months and its biggest drop since President Trump announced tariffs in April 2025. Reports put the S&P 500 down 3.2% to 3.9% and the Dow down roughly 1,100 to 1,590 points at different times, a day after the Dow's best session in a long while. Chip stocks led the slide: SanDisk fell 22% and Western Digital 17%. The VIX volatility index jumped 61%. Data-center operators Iren and Applied Digital fell about 20%, and CoreWeave and Nebius also dropped sharply. Democrats won control of the House and Senate and several governorships, and voters rejected new data centers in at least 46 of 50 local referendums. OpenAI pledged to work with communities and cut power use, and Meta President Dina Powell McCormick said buildouts will be harder.

The right-leaning New York Post leads with the political cause and the corporate fallout. Its headline stresses that Democratic wins threaten data centers and that AI giants are rushing to contain the damage. It lists company-level losses, cites the referendum tally and exit polls, and quotes Meta's and OpenAI's responses. Left-leaning CBS News and The Guardian lead with the market rout itself. CBS relies on analysts such as Vital Knowledge's Adam Crisafulli, Capital Economics' Joe Maher and E*TRADE's Chris Larkin, and frames the drop as investors reacting to AI "headline" risk. The Guardian adds the $2 trillion loss, the VIX spike, global spillover and Saxo's Neil Wilson, and points to expected curbs from Democratic governors and tougher regulation. All three tie the selloff to the election and the Nasdaq's correction. They differ in emphasis: the Post on voter backlash and industry response, the left outlets on market scale and analyst views. Reuters's brief excerpt matches the shared account.