Wall Street’s post-election rally is splitting in two. Dow futures rose 336 points, or 0.6%, as of 7:07 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, pointing to a second straight strong open after Wednesday’s 1,569-point surge. Nasdaq 100 futures went the other way, down 0.6%, as a Democratic push to regulate artificial intelligence hit chip stocks for a second day. S&P 500 futures edged up 0.2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday up 1,569.40 points, or 3%, at 53,356.12, extending the rally that followed Democrats’ sweep of both chambers of Congress. The S&P 500 gained 1.58% to 7,688.62, the Nasdaq Composite added 1.44% to 25,736.51, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.58%. Consumer discretionary and real estate stocks led the Dow, helped by a sharp drop in oil prices and lower Treasury yields.
Chip stocks are the clear exception. Nvidia fell 3.2% on Wednesday and slipped another 0.9% in pre-market trading. AMD, which jumped nearly 5% early Wednesday after a record quarter, faded to a 1% close and fell 3.3% before the open Thursday. Micron Technology hit a three-month low. The trigger: Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, wrote on X that “top of the Democratic agenda on day 1 needs to be a pause on advanced AI development,” along with regulation of the industry and a ban on artificial superintelligence. Investors broadly expect new rules from the incoming Congress to slow the rapid buildout of data centers and constrain AI computing capacity.
SpaceX’s stock extended its slide, down 1.4% in pre-market after a 3.8% drop Wednesday, as investors weighed Elon Musk’s $474 million in midterm spending – $224 million of it in Texas – on candidates who lost, including Ken Paxton’s Senate bid and Gov. Greg Abbott’s re-election campaign.
Premarket movers. Tesla fell 2%, and data-center names extended their slide: CoreWeave fell 2.9%, Nebius shed 3.6% and Iren slid 2.5%. Qualcomm dropped about 8% despite beating estimates, as its profit outlook disappointed, while AppLovin jumped almost 17% after results and guidance beat forecasts, as of 6:34 a.m. ET Thursday.
Overseas markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.8% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.7% and Shanghai’s composite was little changed. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX each rose about 0.8% by early afternoon.
Oil rebounded: U.S. crude rose 1.8% to about $89.70 a barrel as of 7:06 a.m., after a 10.7% five-day slide driven by hopes for an Iran deal. Gold rose 1.5% to about $4,135 an ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.894% after falling nearly 6 basis points Wednesday, and the dollar index was little changed at 101.57. Bitcoin held near $77,700.
Thursday brings the weekly initial jobless claims report at 8:30 a.m.; economists expect about 196,000 new claims, versus 194,000 the prior week. The main event comes Friday at 8:30 a.m., when the Labor Department releases the October jobs report, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics release schedule. Wednesday’s ADP report showed a steady 86,000 private-sector hires in October.
What it means for you: if you have a 401(k) or an IRA, the last two days likely added real money to your account – the Dow’s two-day gain is now about 4%. If you drive, this week’s 10% drop in oil should start showing up as lower gas prices in the coming weeks. And the Washington fight over AI is not just a Wall Street story: if new rules slow data-center construction, that could mean fewer building and electrician jobs in states like Texas and Arizona – and, for families near those sites, possibly smaller jumps in local electric bills. Friday’s jobs report is the next big test: steady hiring gives the Federal Reserve room to keep rates where they are, which helps hold down mortgage and car-loan costs.
JBizNews Desk | Wall Street
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