Nasdaq Falls 5.5% to 24,315; Nvidia Drops 9.3% in Thursday Session
Key Facts
The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% to 24,315 points in Thursday’s session on November 5, 2026, while Nvidia shares dropped 9.3% in a selloff that hit technology and artificial intelligence stocks. India Infoline put the Nasdaq’s decline at 5.52% and said it was the index’s biggest daily drop in 19 months. Session data showed the index lost 1,421.52 points, closing at 24,315 points. Nvidia, which has become the face of the AI boom, was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 during the session, according to the Associated Press. The benchmark S&P 500 also fell 4.4%, its worst day since market turmoil triggered by the April 2025 “Liberation Day” tariffs.
The decline followed strong gains in the previous session, with Thursday’s losses wiping out more than the U.S. stock market’s gains on Wednesday, November 4, its best daily performance in three months, according to the Associated Press. The Nasdaq closed at 25,736.51 points on November 4 before ending the next session at 24,315 points, according to EL7 data. Pressure thus mounted on an index dominated by technology and AI stocks. India Infoline said it fell 5.52% in the session, its biggest decline in 19 months. The comparison puts Thursday’s session in the context of a swift reversal of the previous day’s gains, rather than as a move detached from the broader wave of volatility.
The selloff spread to other companies tied to AI infrastructure: AMD shares fell 17.3%, while CoreWeave dropped 9.8%, according to the Associated Press. AMD was among the steepest decliners as investors reassessed the outlook for spending on chips and cloud computing. Nvidia shares closed at $181.60 on November 5, down from $200.13 in the previous session, according to EL7 data. For the year, the stock was down 2.6% through November 5, after annual gains of about 39%, 171% and 239% in the previous three years, respectively, according to the agency. The comparison highlights the scale of the shift in the stock’s performance after years of large gains, while Nvidia remained the main source of pressure in Thursday’s session.
The Associated Press linked part of the selloff to political concerns following the U.S. midterm elections held on Tuesday, November 3. Democrats’ sweeping victories raised the possibility that local or state governments could impose a temporary halt on new data center construction. Voters have objected to higher electricity bills associated with these facilities, while the election outcome could affect infrastructure construction plans. The agency said any slowdown in data center construction would mean fewer purchases of AI chips, along with other products and services that support infrastructure expansion. Markets are therefore pricing in the possibility of slower project-related demand, rather than an announcement of an existing halt to data center construction or chip purchases.
The stock losses coincided with a decline in the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note to 4.84% at Thursday’s close, from 4.90% at the end of Wednesday and 4.95% on election night, after exceeding 5.30% in the previous month, according to the Associated Press. In a broader backdrop, Reuters said the Nasdaq lost more than $2.5 trillion in market value in October amid questions about how quickly technology companies’ spending on AI infrastructure would translate into profits. Reuters quoted Samir Samana of Wells Fargo Investment Institute as saying that a transfer of political control between two parties could bring “a great deal of uncertainty, disruption and sudden policy changes.” The assessment comes amid investor concerns about expected returns on spending and changes to the rules governing data center construction, rather than an announced government decision to impose restrictions.
By the next session, pressure on technology shares had spread to Asia: South Korea’s Kospi fell 6.3% to 5,042.65 points on Friday, November 6, as shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined, according to the Associated Press. In the United States, the Nasdaq remained 11.9% below its record high set in the previous month, crossing the agency’s 10% threshold for a technical correction. Investors are awaiting Nvidia’s results for the third quarter of its 2027 fiscal year, which ended on October 25; the company set November 17 for its earnings call. The results will provide a point of reference for tracking the company’s performance amid volatility in sector shares and debate over the pace of investment in AI infrastructure.