Wall Street rallies after Democrats win Congress; data center stocks slide
SPY•U.S. stocks climbed after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, with the Dow up 2.44%, the S&P 500 up 1.37% and the Nasdaq up 1.44% in afternoon trading. Hyperscalers gained while data center operators and chip stocks fell.
1. Stocks rise after election
U.S. stocks climbed broadly on Wednesday after Democrats won control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, easing political uncertainty and boosting risk appetite. At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 2.44%, the S&P 500 1.37% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.44%.
2. AI shares diverge
Amazon.com gained 6.2%, Alphabet rose 3.8% and Meta Platforms added 1.6%, while data center operators IREN and Hut 8 fell 14% and 22.7%, respectively. Chip stocks also declined, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropped 3.6% to a six-month low despite AMD forecasting faster-than-expected 2027 growth.
3. Other market moves
Solar and clean-energy stocks rose, with the Invesco Solar ETF climbing 7.2%, as investors bet a Democratic sweep would help keep federal support for clean-energy development in place. Defense stocks Northrop Grumman, RTX and Lockheed Martin fell as Trump's $1.5 trillion budget request faced a potentially tougher road in Congress.
