The vote that weighs on the markets
According to AI News Italia, Wall Street closed Thursday with its worst session since April 2025, two days after the clear Democratic victory in the midterm elections. The Nasdaq Composite lost 5.5%, entering correction territory, that is, a decline of at least 10% from its peak. The S&P 500 lost 4.4% and the Dow Jones 3.4%, with an intraday drop of more than 1,800 points. Reuters estimates at about $2.9 trillion the value evaporated from listed companies in a single trading day.
The cause indicated is not corporate earnings but politics. Hundreds of Democratic candidates elected Tuesday, including governors, attorneys general and members of Congress, had promised during the campaign to curb the construction of data centers for artificial intelligence, which consume large amounts of water and energy. The victory covered key states for the sector such as Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Georgia, all major hubs for AI infrastructure.
Market fears and the Tesla case
Investors fear that the new Congress, taking office in January, could turn those promises into a regulatory squeeze on an industry that has so far been the main engine of US economic growth. On Wednesday the markets had opened higher due to the speed of the results and the absence of disputes; on Thursday came the reckoning, with one of the worst days for chip stocks in at least five years, according to the source.
Tesla and SpaceX fell by almost 10%, also penalized by the fear that Elon Musk's companies, which had spent hundreds of millions to support Republicans, will come under the spotlight of Democratic committees. President Donald Trump reacted by publicly blaming the Democrats for the crash, in an increasingly tense political climate.
The contagion beyond the United States and what remains to be verified
The contagion spread rapidly beyond US borders, according to AI News Italia: on Friday the Japanese Nikkei fell as much as 7%, then moved back toward -6, while in Seoul the opening at -8.5% triggered an automatic 20-minute suspension of trading. Taiwan and South Korea lost more than 8% intraday before a partial recovery. European stock markets opened lower, with Milan at -1.5%; the market now looks to the US employment data, the first test after the political shock.
Strategist Ed Yardeni, founder of Yardeni Research, had warned on the eve of the vote that a "blue tsunami" would be "a cold shower for stocks," explaining that a Democratic Congress could complicate negotiations on public spending and debt, pushing Treasury yields higher.
It remains to be seen whether this is a transitory episode or the beginning of a deeper revaluation. The Nasdaq retains a gain of more than 30% compared with the 2024 presidential election. The doubt common to analysts and funds concerns the AI boom, built on hundreds of billions invested in chips, servers and facilities: shareholders are waiting to understand when that money will return. If politics were to slow infrastructure, the answer risks arriving later.
