Fears that spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure could slow triggered a sharp sell-off in U.S. stocks on Thursday, Nov. 5. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5%, entering correction territory, while the S&P 500 lost about 4.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped roughly 1,833 points, or 3.4%. All three indexes posted their steepest one-day declines since April 2025, wiping out the gains made after Wednesday’s election.
The selling began in AI-linked technology stocks before spreading across the broader market. Investors weighed whether the election result could affect the pace of data-center construction and, in turn, the investment expectations underpinning the tech rally. The small-cap Russell 2000 also moved into correction territory.
Magnificent Seven lose more than $1 trillion
The Magnificent Seven’s combined market value fell by more than $1 trillion in a single session. Nvidia accounted for over $440 billion of the decline as its shares fell more than 9%. The drop pushed the stock’s performance for the year into negative territory, with Nvidia down 2.6% year to date.
The sell-off extended across sectors and exchange-traded funds. All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed lower. Information technology fell 7.30%, its biggest one-day drop since March 16, 2020, while industrials lost 4.12%, their weakest session since April 4, 2025.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) dropped 8.04%, also its steepest one-day decline since March 16, 2020. Trading volume topped 33 million shares, more than three times its 30-day average of 9.2 million.
Decliners overwhelm advancers across the market
Market breadth deteriorated sharply. On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,344 stocks fell and 416 rose, a ratio of nearly six to one. On the Nasdaq Composite, 4,166 shares declined compared with 855 gainers, or roughly five decliners for every advancer.
Among S&P 500 constituents, 174 stocks, or 34.6%, were at least 20% below their 52-week highs; 310, or 61.6%, were down at least 10%. Companies in the deeper drawdown group included SanDisk, Intel, Marvell Technology, Seagate Technology, Coinbase, Lumentum, Oracle, ON Semiconductor, Micron Technology, Caterpillar, Robinhood, Alphabet, Nvidia and Lululemon.
In the Nasdaq 100, 59 constituents, or 58.4%, had fallen more than 20% from their 52-week highs, while 72, or 71.3%, were down more than 10%. Rocket Lab, CoreWeave, Arm Holdings and SpaceX were also among the names with declines of at least 20%.
Index losses rival the worst sessions since April
The Nasdaq’s 5.5% slide was smaller than its 5.82% fall on April 4, 2025, but was its worst session since then. The S&P 500 lost about 4.4%, compared with a 5.97% decline on April 4. The Dow fell roughly 1,833 points; on April 4, it shed more than 2,200 points, or 5.5%.
The sell-off put the durability of AI investment and data-center construction expectations in focus, while the breadth of the declines showed how quickly pressure in technology stocks had spread through the wider market.