AI stocks halt their brutal, worldwide sell-off as Wall Street trims its
loss for the week
[November 07, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — AI stocks bounced back Friday and recovered some of
their sell-off from the last two days. The rest of the U.S. stock market
was mixed, though, following a whirlwind few days of Wall Street trying
to sort out what this week’s sweeping victories by Democrats in the U.S.
midterm elections will mean for the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and trimmed its loss for the week to 2.7%, which
was its worst since President Donald Trump shook markets in April 2025
with his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
dropped 237 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%.
The relative steadiness for Wall Street halted what had been a worldwide
tumble for stocks. Indexes dropped 6% in Tokyo and in Seoul following
the U.S. market’s plunge on Thursday. European indexes have fewer stocks
tied to the artificial-intelligence industry, but Germany’s DAX
nevertheless lost 1.9%.
Friday’s biggest lift for the S&P 500 came from Nvidia, the chip company
that’s become the face of the boom and possible bust of the AI frenzy.
Its stock climbed 2.8%, coming off drops of 9.3% and 3.2%.
It and other companies tied to the build-out of AI data centers tumbled
this week on worries that Democratic victories in statehouses across the
country could mean a slowdown in further construction, particularly in
Texas. Voters across political parties say they’re wary about AI and
don’t like increases to power bills caused by data centers.
That built on top of worries already rattling the industry that further
construction of AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it’s
become to borrow money. Before that, even, critics were saying AI stock
prices had shot too high and were in a bubble.
But political power in Washington will still be split between a
Democratic Congress and a White House run by the Republican Trump, who
retains the power to veto. That could limit federal efforts to rein in
the AI industry.
In the meantime, companies in the industry still see strong growth.
IREN, a company that delivers data centers, compute and software for AI
training, reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts
expected. Its stock jumped 20%, and it also announced two new contracts
signed since the end of the quarter.
Lam Research, a company whose equipment and services help make
semiconductors, climbed 8.2% after announcing a program to send up to
$25 billion to its investors by buying back shares of its own stock.
That helped other stocks that have benefited from the build-out of AI
data centers recover some of their own sharp losses. CoreWeave, which
rents out access to AI chips to customers over the cloud, rose 6.3%.
Micron Technology, which sells memory for computers, climbed 5.1%.
Outside of AI, the U.S. stock market was mixed, and more stocks fell
within the S&P 500 than rose.
Axon Enterprise tumbled 18.2% after the seller of Tasers reported weaker
results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also announced
a $1.2 billion investment in Skydio, a drone technology company.
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Market information is displayed on screens on the floor of the New
York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in New York. (AP
Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
 Charter Communications sank 6.2%
after the internet and video provider reported a loss for the latest
quarter, when analysts were expecting a profit.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 23.13 points to 7,376.86. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dipped 237.33 to 51,285.73, and the Nasdaq
composite climbed 264.43 to 24,579.42.
Despite all its vicious swings this week, the S&P 500 remains only
5.7% below its all-time high, which was set last month.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held firmer following sharp
drops earlier in the week triggered by tumbling stock prices and
hopes that split control of Washington could limit how much more the
U.S. government adds to its debt.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.86% from 4.84% late
Thursday. It had topped 5.30% last month when worries about
inflation, higher interest rates and rising government debt were
spiking.
Helping to support yields was a report released Friday morning
showing U.S. employers hired many more workers last month than
economists expected. It’s the latest signal that the U.S. economy
continues to chug along despite high inflation.
On one hand, the encouraging data could mean the U.S. economy may be
able to absorb a slowdown in construction of AI data centers. But at
the same time, the strong growth in jobs could push upward on
inflation. Following the report, traders saw a greater probability
of the Federal Reserve hiking its short-term interest rate at its
next meeting in December, according to data from CME Group.
Rate hikes by the Fed can rein in inflation, but they do so by
making borrowing money more expensive for everyone and slowing the
overall economy.
A separate report, meanwhile, suggested that sentiment among U.S.
consumers unexpectedly improved. The preliminary report from the
University of Michigan said sentiment rose for lower- and
middle-wealth Americans but fell for those with the largest stock
portfolios.
Perhaps more importantly for the bond market, the survey also
suggested expectations for inflation in the coming year eased for
Americans. That could prevent a vicious cycle where expectations for
high inflation drive behavior that only worsens inflation.
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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.
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