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Nasdaq heading for worst day in 18 months as Wall Street sustains widespread losses

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Wearden, G. (2026, November 5). Nasdaq heading for worst day in 18 months as Wall Street sustains widespread losses. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/05/nasdaq-heading-for-worst-day-in-18-months-as-wall-street-sustains-widespread-losses

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-11-05 · by Graeme Wearden

Quick Summary

On Thursday, the Nasdaq index faced its worst day in 18 months, dropping up to 5%, largely due to fears of increased regulation for the AI industry following recent midterm elections. This decline pushed the tech-heavy index into ‘correction territory’—a drop of more than 10% from its peak—and triggered significant losses across Wall Street and global markets. Notably, chip companies like SanDisk and Western Digital saw sharp declines, with their shares falling by up to 19% and 16.5%, respectively.
Written by AI on 2026-11-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 5, 2026, US stock markets plunged sharply following the previous day’s midterm election results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by about 1,200 points, reversing most gains from a prior surge of over 1,500 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index dropped by up to 5%, marking its worst performance in 18 months, amid growing fears that the AI industry will face increased regulation under new Democratic control. Shares in companies like SpaceX and semiconductor firms Intel and Nvidia also declined significantly; Intel's shares fell more than 18% over five days while Nvidia saw a drop of over 10%. This sell-off was exacerbated by midterm election outcomes where tech-critical candidates won key states with significant planned data center capacity, potentially impacting the AI buildout in those areas.

Written for “AI Stock Sell-off Plunges Markets” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans left for article 132265 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-11-05

Story

📰 AI Stock Sell-off Plunges Markets
Economy/Business · 12 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Tech stocks plunge on worries about AI and Democrats’ midterm landslide Same event
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 23 claims Outlet record 72/100
Shares in Musk's SpaceX plunge as tech and AI stocks fall Same event
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
AI stocks plunge after election, driving down US markets Same event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 2 of 24 claims Outlet record 60/100
Stocks crater as investors recoil from tech companies Same event
CBS News
Hedges 3 of 12 claims Outlet record 69/100
Wall Street plunges as AI stocks tumble, ASX set to slide lower Same event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 6 of 37 claims Outlet record 61/100
AI stock sell-off sends Wall Street reeling and erases midterm rally gains Same event
Global News
Hedges 5 of 35 claims Outlet record 63/100
US tech selloff erases post-midterm gains Same event
Semafor
Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 68/100
Live: ASX looks set to fall as US tech stocks plunge on predictions of AI pullback Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 67/100
“Both articles discuss market downturns influenced by AI regulation fears on November 5, 2026, but they describe different markets (Nasdaq and ASX) at distinct times of the day.”
Wall Street on edge after $1.4 trillion wipeout Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 5 of 45 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles describe a similar situation but refer to different days and different specifics about market performance.”
ASX set to slip, Wall Street hit by tech rout; Binance sees withdrawals spike as it returns online Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 44 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles describe similar market events but refer to different days and slightly differing contexts.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
65/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
12
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2119 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)
2026-11-05
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Who wrote this

Graeme Wearden
10 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The tech-heavy US Nasdaq share index is on track for its worst day in 18 months after slumping by up to 5% on Thursday amid growing signs that the artificial intelligence industry will face tougher regulation after this week’s midterm elections.
2026-11-05 · assertive framing · Nasdaq heading for worst day in 18 months as Wall Street sustains widespread losses
🔮 The pound has also benefited from expectations that the Bank will raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years at midday on Thursday, which would make it more lucrative for investors to hold funds in sterling.
2026-11-05 · assertive framing · Pound hits highest level since its crash after 2016 Brexit vote
🔮 Over the weekend, Qatari officials tried to negotiate the release of more than $6bn (£4.5bn) in Iranian assets, so that Tehran might allow the strait of Hormuz to reopen.
2026-11-02 · assertive framing · Oil price falls amid hope of a breakthrough to end Iran war
🔮 The European Central Bank announced on Thursday morning that Lagarde would step down as its president on 7 February 2027; her term was scheduled to run until the end of October next year.
2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Europe’s central bank chief Christine Lagarde to step down nine months early
🔮 Financial markets are wrong to predict the Bank of England will raise UK interest rates by a full percentage point or more by next summer, City economists believe.
2026-10-25 · mixed framing · Interest rates unlikely to reach 4.75% by next summer, say City economists
🔮 These models improved on John Maynard Keynes’s stabilisation models, which struggled to handle the impact of the oil shock in the 1970s, when countries suffered high inflation, weak growth and high unemployment at the same time.
2026-10-12 · assertive framing · Nobel Prize for economics awarded to Hall and Woodford for work on ‘smoothing’ crises
🔮 The threat of a renewed round of inflation from the persistently high cost of oil has spooked investors, who believe central banks will be forced to raise rates in the coming months to prevent price increases from becoming embedded.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Global bond sell-off intensifies, as UK long-term borrowing costs pass 6%
🔮 Powered by the AI revolution, the US stock market had rallied to a fresh all-time high, as investors bet the multitrillion-dollar investment spree would overshadow the hit from the Iran war.
2026-09-20 · assertive framing · Are global stock markets heading for a crash?
🔮 State pension set to rise by 3.9% after wage growth data The UK state pension is set to rise by 3.9% next year, it appears, following today’s wage growth figures.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · Pensioners are ‘big winners’ with triple-lock set to rise by 3.9%, lifting state pension to £13,000 – as it happened
🔮 The Japanese yen has soared by more than 2% against the dollar amid speculation the Bank of Japan is set to raise interest rates.
2026-09-04 · assertive framing · Yen soars as Bank of Japan tipped to raise interest rates
Also by Graeme Wearden
Pound hits highest level since its crash after 2016 Brexit vote
2026-11-05 · The Guardian
Oil price falls amid hope of a breakthrough to end Iran war
2026-11-02 · The Guardian
Europe’s central bank chief Christine Lagarde to step down nine months early
2026-10-29 · The Guardian
Interest rates unlikely to reach 4.75% by next summer, say City economists
2026-10-25 · The Guardian
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 10 articles by Graeme Wearden →

Topics

Democratic Democrats Nasdaq New York SanDisk

Subjects

Democratic NORP · 2× Democrats NORP · 2× Nasdaq ORG · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Iran GPE · 1× Neil Wilson PERSON · 1× New York GPE · 1× SanDisk ORG · 1× Saxo UK ORG · 1× Western Digital ORG · 1×

Narrative

The tech-heavy US Nasdaq share index is on track for its worst day in 18 months after slumping by up to 5% on Thursday amid growing signs that the artificial intelligence industry will face tougher regulation after this week’s midterm elections.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-05
🔮 The tech-heavy US Nasdaq share index is on track for its worst day in 18 months after slumping by up to 5% on Thursday amid growing signs that the artificial intelligence industry will face tougher regulation after this week’s midterm elections.
2026-11-05 · The Guardian
Nasdaq heading for worst day in 18 months as Wall Street sustains widespread losses · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

The tech-heavy US Nasdaq share index is on track for its worst day in 18 months after slumping by up to 5% on Thursday amid growing signs that the artificial intelligence industry will face tougher regulation after this week’s midterm elections. asserted
industry → slump → elections
As Wall Street sustained widespread losses, the Nasdaq composite tumbled into ‘correction territory’ – more than 10% below its recent record high. asserted
composite → sustain → high
The index was heading for its biggest one-day fall since Donald Trump announced his ‘liberation day’ tariffs on US trading partners in April 2025. asserted
Trump → head → April
Worries over massive AI spending gripped the New York stock market and rippled out to other bourses worldwide as investors anticipated tougher scrutiny of datacentre expansion plans. asserted
investors → grip → plans
Chip stocks led the slump, with memory maker SanDisk tumbling by 19% and hard drive maker Western Digital falling by 16.5%. asserted
Digital → lead → %
Wall Street’s ‘fear index’, the VIX, jumped by 40% to its highest levels since the early weeks of the Iran war, in a sign of rising market volatility. asserted
index → jump → volatility
Analysts pointed to expectations that Democratic governors will clamp down on the rollout of new datacentres after the party won a series of gubernatorial races this week. asserted
party → point → races
US voters also rejected datacentres in a series of local ballots about the issue across the country. asserted
voters → reject → country
Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said a “complete capitulation level event” was playing out in tech stocks on Thursday. asserted
event → say → Thursday
“The fear is a total momentum unwind as Democrats pace the frontier and kibosh datacentre buildout … asserted
Democrats → pace → buildout
this looks totally overdone but the nature of ‘sell everything’ in this market means we need to look for some stability first,” Wilson said. asserted
Wilson → look → stability
Nvidia, the chipmaker at the heart of the AI boom, was the top faller on the DJIA – down 6.7%, followed by Goldman Sachs, which fell 5.7%. asserted
which → follow → Sachs
The sell-off is a sharp reversal on Wednesday’s rally, when Wall Street stocks had their biggest daily gain in months as investors anticipated that the Democratic party’s success in the US midterm elections could restrain the White House. uncertain
success → have → House
Tech analyst Dan Ives has warned that the results of the midterms are a clear sign that the pace of datacentre buildout will start to slow down. asserted
pace → warn → buildout
“There is no way to sugarcoat that Democrats taking control, especially over the Senate, will create some major hurdles for AI and tech legislation in the Beltway over the next two years,” Ives said. asserted
Ives → be → years
An early stock market rally in Europe had fizzled out by late trading, with Britain’s FTSE 100 closing down 46 points or 0.4% at 10782.66. asserted
FTSE → fizzle → 10782.66
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