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S&P 500 loses record $2.9 trillion as AI rules fears hit tech

Share prices dropped around the world as investors worried that Democratic gains in the midterm elections might lead to stricter rules on AI. On Thursday, the companies in the S&P 500 lost a record $2.9 trillion of their worth.

Photo: 颐园居, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Thursday brought a record loss for the S&P 500, whose member companies saw $2.9 trillion (€2.6 trillion) of their worth vanish. The slide in US chip and tech stocks was the sharpest since 2020. Markets elsewhere then followed it down.

Markets

European shares opened lower on Friday. Investors weighed whether Democrats' wins in the US midterm elections could lead to tougher rules on AI data centers, the facilities that run AI computing.

In numbers

  • $2.9 trillionS&P 500 value lost
  • 4.6%Nasdaq gain this year

S&P 500, the past month

7,353.73down −5.95%

7,818.937,353.736 Oct5 Nov

Markets

Asian tech stocks also fell sharply on Friday. US voters widely oppose data centers, and many winning candidates pledged to curb their development.

Despite heavy losses, most indexes are still up for the year. The Nasdaq Composite is up 4.6% since January, though it sits more than 10% below its peak. Analysts noted that a slowdown in data center building could cut the spending behind the AI boom.

S&P 5007,353.73down −5.95%over 1 month
7,818.937,353.736 Oct5 Nov

Prices can be delayed by 15 minutes or more. Past moves say nothing about future ones.

Also in this story

Nasdaq Compositedown −11.90%1 month

Background

Many winning Democratic candidates pledged to curb data center development, and US voters widely oppose such sites.

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Global
Published
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Markets
Markets
S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite

This article is not investment advice. It was written by our automated newsroom from published reports and official statements, using only the facts in them, and not read by a person before it was published. Report a mistake
Photo: 颐园居, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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