AI Trade Suffers Worst Day Since April 2025 as Nasdaq Enters Correction

The AI trade had its worst day since April 2025 on Thursday, November 5, 2026, as a broad selloff wiped roughly $2.5 trillion from US stock market value and pushed the Nasdaq Composite into correction territory.

The Nasdaq fell 5.52%, closing more than 10% below its October 6 record high. The S&P 500 dropped 4.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,833 points, or 3.4%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 12.3%, its steepest one-day decline since March 2020.

Chipmakers and AI infrastructure companies bore the brunt. Nvidia dropped about 9.3%. SanDisk plunged 22%. The seven largest technology companies collectively lost as much as $1 trillion in a single session.

The selloff spilled into Asia on Friday. South Korea's Kospi fell nearly 9% at the open, triggering a 20-minute trading halt.

Investors attributed the pullback to concerns over heavy AI spending, the possibility of tighter regulation, and uncertainty following Democrats' sweeping midterm election gains. The political shift adds a variable to the question of whether the spending boom that has driven chipmakers and data-center builders can continue at its current pace.

The selloff signals that markets are reassessing the returns on the AI investment boom, not just the prospects of individual companies. If the slide persists, it could mean tighter funding for smaller AI startups, delays to AI-related public offerings, and slower construction of the data centers that AI tools depend on.

Estimates of the total market value wiped out vary. CNN and the Times of India reported roughly $2.5 trillion. Voice of Emirates cited $3 trillion.