Asian Markets Mixed After US Vote as Chip Stocks Sink, Oil Drops
WHO:
Fast Company - Memory-chip and storage companies Micron Technology, SanDisk, Western Digital, and Seagate Technology reported share declines.
ABC News - President Donald Trump’s party lost its sole control of Washington after the midterm election.
ABC News - South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, OpenAI investor SoftBank Group, chip-equipment company Tokyo Electron, and testing-equipment maker Advantest were among the companies whose shares fell.
ABC News - Elon Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX fell; Musk donated heavily to Republicans and was a former top Trump adviser.
ABC News - Trump Media & Technology Group operates Truth Social, known for Trump’s posts on the platform.
ABC News - Military contractors Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics; oil companies ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips; and renewable-energy companies First Solar and Enphase Energy also moved.
Bloomberg Markets - “The Asia Trade” features Bloomberg TV hosts Haidi Stroud-Watts and Paul Allen, live from Sydney, with newsmakers and industry leaders discussing global markets.
WHAT:
Bloomberg Markets - Auto and consumer-goods makers gained in Asia amid a rotation away from chipmakers.
Fast Company - Micron fell 7%, SanDisk 7.9%, Western Digital 6.7%, and Seagate 8.1%; in premarket trading, they were down nearly 4%, 5.3%, 4.7%, and 4.5%, respectively.
Fast Company - Microsoft rose 6.6%, Apple 5.3%, Amazon 6.1%, Netflix 4.6%, Alphabet 3.2%, and Meta 1.4%.
Fast Company - The article reported that the Dow’s 1,569-point rise was its strongest post-midterm-election day in 44 years; the S&P 500 gained 1.58% and the Nasdaq 1.44%.
Bloomberg Markets - A Democratic sweep of Congress fueled a rotation trade in Asia, dragging down chipmaker shares amid concerns about AI investment while lifting auto and consumer-goods makers.
Bloomberg Markets - Asian stocks were poised to follow Wall Street higher after the U.S. midterm election, as oil plunged amid hopes the conflict with Iran could end sooner.
ABC News - Asian shares mostly advanced after U.S. stocks rallied following the midterm election, while South Korea’s Kospi and several technology-heavy markets declined.
ABC News - The Kospi briefly fell more than 4% and was down 3.5% at 5,484.38 by late morning. Samsung Electronics fell 5.7%; SK Hynix fell 7.4%.
ABC News - Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% to 61,914.53; SoftBank fell 5.3%, Tokyo Electron 7.7%, and Advantest 9.4%. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.6%.
ABC News - Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.8% to 24,597.59; Shanghai’s Composite rose 0.1%; Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.9% to 9,003.40.
ABC News - In U.S. trading, the S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Dow gained more than 1,500 points, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%. The article’s opening says the Dow jumped more than 3%.
ABC News - Trump Media & Technology Group fell 24.5%; the article says its shares had fallen from a peak of $175 to $4.49. Tesla fell 3.3%, and SpaceX fell 3.8%.
ABC News - Lockheed Martin fell 6.9%, Northrop Grumman 4.5%, and General Dynamics 2.6%. ExxonMobil fell 4.6%, and ConocoPhillips 5.2%.
ABC News - First Solar rose 4.6%, and Enphase Energy rose 3.7%.
Bloomberg Markets - The article description identifies an episode about Asian chip stocks sliding and oil plunging after the U.S. midterm election.
WHERE:
ABC News - The reported market movements covered South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Australia, and Wall Street in the United States.
Bloomberg Markets - Bloomberg TV’s “The Asia Trade” broadcast live from Sydney.
WHEN:
ABC News - The report describes Asian trading on Thursday and U.S. market movements on Wednesday; it gives no calendar dates.
Bloomberg Markets - The program description says it covers markets as the trading day begins in Asia; it gives no calendar date.
WHY:
Fast Company - Democrats who won state and local elections had campaigned for restrictions or moratoriums on data-center construction.
Bloomberg Markets - Bloomberg reported that Asian stock futures pointed to steep losses as concerns grew that Democrats would pursue tighter regulation of the artificial-intelligence industry.
Fast Company - The article attributed concern over memory-chip demand to Democratic candidates’ calls for restrictions or moratoriums on data-center construction, which could slow demand for servers and RAM.
Fast Company - An NBC and SSRS exit poll found around 76% of voters opposed new data centers being built where they lived.
Fast Company - Elon Musk said, “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.” Chamath Palihapitiya said, “the only way to sink the AI trade is to sink the data centers”; Bill Ackman said, “Practically speaking, we can’t slow down.”
Bloomberg Markets - Investors’ concerns about the AI buildout weighed on Asian chipmakers.
ABC News - Selling of artificial-intelligence-related shares drove losses in chip stocks. The article linked investor concern about AI valuations to Trump’s backing of the industry.
ABC News - The article said a Democratic-led Congress could pressure Trump to pull back on the war with Iran, weighing on weapons stocks and oil prices.
ABC News - It said investors generally prefer split control of Washington because it reduces the risk of transformative economic changes; it also noted that company profits and interest rates tend to matter more to broad-market performance over the long term.
ABC News - Brent crude was near $94 per barrel, described as around its lowest level in two months. It fell 8.7% to $94.62, then was down 0.8% to $93.91; U.S. benchmark crude fell 1% to $87.27.
ABC News - The U.S. dollar slipped to 157.96 Japanese yen from 158.41; the euro rose to $1.1256 from $1.1228.
HOW:
ABC News - The article reported that hospital-owner and dollar-store stocks helped lead the U.S. rally after nationwide Republican losses.
(UPDATED November 5, 2026 23:04 UTC)
Asian chipmakers slid as investors questioned artificial-intelligence spending, while automakers and consumer companies gained. Oil prices fell amid hopes the Iran conflict could ease. Wall Street rallied after Democrats took control of Congress, with the Dow soaring.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 15:01 UTC)
Democrats’ midterm sweep ended Republicans’ sole control of Washington, shaking markets across Asia and Wall Street. Asian chip stocks tumbled over AI investment concerns, while the Dow surged more than 1,500 points. Oil plunged amid hopes the Iran conflict could end sooner.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 07:59 UTC)
President Trump’s party lost control of Washington, prompting sharp shifts across Asian markets. Chipmakers fell on AI spending concerns, while auto and consumer-goods stocks gained. Oil prices plunged amid hopes Iran’s conflict could end sooner, weighing on energy shares.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 07:02 UTC)
Asian markets were mixed after President Trump’s party lost Washington’s sole control. South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.5%, as major chipmakers slid on AI valuation concerns. Wall Street rallied, while oil plunged, weapons stocks declined, and renewable-energy shares advanced.