“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” Elon Musk joked ruefully on X overnight after pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into backing conservative candidates only to see a blue wave sweep the midterms and euphoria inflate markets — although not the billionaire’s SpaceX (-3%) and Tesla (-2%). They were among the few stocks in the red across all sectors in midday trade following the Democrats’ decisive flip of both houses of Congress.
Media shares were a sea of green across broadcasters, cablers and theater chains. Heavyweights from Comcast and Disney (both up 5%) to Netflix and Skydance (each up 4%) were bubbly.
Chip maker Nvidia fell (-2%), reflecting angst that the new crop of lawmakers will move against the energy-guzzling data centers that power AI growth and were a major factor in many campaigns. Generally, however, tech stocks also celebrated. Microsoft surged 6% to hit a new record. Apple touched an all-time high that sent its market cap above $5 trillion. Amazon (+7%), Snap (+6%), Spotify and Alphabet (+4%) and Meta (+3) all rose.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is popping, with a jump of 1,500 points, or 2.9%. The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Russell 3000 all are up about 2%.
The upbeat trading follows a rout early on as stock futures tumbled with election results starting to roll in Tuesday evening into Wednesday. Sentiment flipped, however, and stocks roared back before sunrise, putting the Dow on track for one of its best days since April.
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Most immediately, the rally removes an overhang of uncertainty about the outcome of the elections as well as President Trump’s willingness to accept the results, which he has said he will do. There will be much discussion in the coming weeks about the potential business impacts on companies and sectors after the seismic shift in Washington, D.C.
The rally accelerated as U.S. crude oil prices fell more than 8% after Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war, which has boosted gas prices and overall inflation, for Republican election losses on Tuesday.
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