Markets tank after post-Election Day surge

Stocks nosedived on Thursday, one day after rallying on the heels of Democrats’ resounding midterm victories .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled by more than 2,100 points from the opening bell and closed down by 1,833 points relative to the end of trading on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 were respectively down by roughly 1,422 points and 335 points from Wednesday closing. The tech-focused Nasdaq 100 dipped by 6.36 percent, falling about 1,807 points from 24 hours prior.

The sell-off offset Wednesday’s surge and came as investors continue to express concern about mounting AI-related debt .

“NASDAQ slid into correction territory and is currently down more than 11% from its high a month ago,” Liz Ann Sonders of the Schwab Center for Financial Research wrote Thursday afternoon on the social platform X.

While stocks soared a day after Democrats took control of the Senate and House , party lawmakers and candidates campaigned on reeling in the AI industry — with voters rejecting data centers on dozens of ballot measures.

Progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday renewed his push for a national moratorium on data center construction, saying Americans “don’t want Big Tech oligarchs wrecking the environment, gutting jobs and threatening humanity’s future.”

Sanders wrote on X , “NATIONAL DATA CENTER MORATORIUM NOW.”

History indicates that the S&P 500 will rise by the middle of next week. After midterm elections held from 1982 to 2022, the index was up by an average of 1 percent a week later, according to a recent CNBC analysis .

A month after those midterm elections, the S&P 500 was up by an average of 1.5 percent, per CNBC.