S&P 500 Falls 2.68% for the Week as Chip Stocks Drop 13% After Democrats Win Congress; AppLovin +71%
S&P 500 week close: 7,376.86 (-2.68%) Nasdaq Friday close: 24,579.42 (+1.09%) Sentiment: bearish
The S&P 500 closed the week ending 6 November 2026 at 7,376.86, down 203.21 points or 2.68%, its worst week since June per Yahoo Finance, after Democrats won the House and Senate and chip stocks sold off on concern that the new Congress will slow the AI data center buildout. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX.US) lost 13.13% for the week, while APP.US gained 71.21% on a fourth-quarter revenue guide above estimates. October payrolls rose 165,000 against 65,000 expected, and markets priced about a 78% chance of a December Fed rate hike, per Reuters.
The week on Wall Street
The S&P 500 swung from a week-high close of 7,688.62 on Wednesday 4 November 2026 to 7,353.73 on Thursday, a one-day fall of 4.36%, its largest of the week. Monday lost 0.51% as XLK.US fell 2.95% and LITE.US dropped 18.59% after its $115 billion all-stock sale to MRVL.US. Tuesday added 0.36% as SOXX.US recovered 2.50% before the midterm results.
Wednesday added 1.58% and the Dow gained 3.03%, its best day since 9 April 2025 per CNBC, after Democrats won both chambers and Brent fell almost 8.7%. AAPL.US, MSFT.US and AMZN.US added about 100 bps that day. Chip and data center names fell the same session after Texas elected a governor who has pledged a data center moratorium: VRT.US -12.89%, VST.US -13.83% and NVDA.US -3.17%.
The S&P 500 lost 334.89 points on Thursday. SOXX.US lost 12.15%, its worst day since March 2020 per CNBC, after Sen. Bernie Sanders called for a national data center moratorium. NVDA.US, AVGO.US, MU.US and AMD.US subtracted about 133 bps of the 436 bps loss, and the Nasdaq closed in correction territory. Friday added 0.31% as AMD.US rose 11.04% and LRCX.US 8.23% on a $25 billion buyback.
The Nasdaq ended the week at 24,579.42, down 3.37%. The Dow lost 0.94% to 51,285.73 and the Russell 2000 2.05% to 2,754.11. RSP.US, the equal-weight S&P 500 fund, fell 1.04%, 164 bps ahead of the index. MU.US lost 22.01% for the week, PLTR.US 12.89%, AMD.US 11.05%, TSLA.US 10.40% and NVDA.US 8.80%; AMZN.US gained 7.88%, GOOGL.US 1.77% and MSFT.US 1.67%.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
Communication services (XLC.US) rose 4.89% in the week to 6 November 2026, the best of the 11 SPDR sector funds, while energy (XLE.US) fell 12.00%, the worst.
- Best: Communication services (XLC.US) +4.89%, with GOOGL.US +1.77% and a 3.47% gain for the fund on Wednesday.
- 1.92% was the real estate (XLRE.US) gain, second best; consumer discretionary (XLY.US) added 1.91% as AMZN.US rose 7.88%.
- Worst: Energy (XLE.US) -12.00%, as December WTI fell 12.76% to $90.83 and January Brent 13.32% to $98.32.
- XLK.US fell 8.23% and lost 8.00% on Thursday alone; SMH.US fell 11.20% for the week.
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 16.89 pts.
Five of the 11 sector funds closed the week higher; financials (XLF.US) added 1.15%. Industrials (XLI.US) fell 2.83% as data center contractors dropped, with STRL.US down 26.91% for the week.
Top movers, week ending 6 November
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| APP.US | +71.21% | Q3 revenue $2.18 billion against $2.07 billion; Q4 guide above estimates |
| ARDT.US | +43.81% | Q3 revenue $1.62 billion; 2026 earnings guidance raised |
| XERS.US | +41.92% | 2026 revenue guide raised to $395 million to $405 million |
| U.US | +36.58% | Q3 beat and first GAAP profit since its 2020 IPO |
| VCEL.US | +35.67% | Record Q3 revenue of $85.4 million, up 26%; guidance raised |
| LITE.US | -35.94% | $115 billion all-stock sale to MRVL.US, then the chip sell-off |
| CVI.US | -34.68% | $4.2 billion refinery purchase and a $750 million share sale |
| DOX.US | -33.01% | Weaker fiscal 2027 outlook on a T-Mobile dispute |
| FSLY.US | -31.43% | Q3 beat; security product growth missed, per Seeking Alpha |
| STVN.US | -29.98% | 2027 growth guided to low single digits on lower GLP-1 volumes |
STX.US fell 28.48%, MRVL.US 28.11%, WDC.US 27.95% and SNDK.US 27.44% for the week, and AXON.US lost 26.83% after cutting its 2026 revenue guidance. TMDX.US gained 33.72%, RUN.US 33.42% and RIOT.US 30.44%.
Friday US session
- S&P 500: 7,376.86 (+0.31%)
- Nasdaq: 24,579.42 (+1.09%)
- Dow: 51,285.73 (-0.46%)
- VIX: 25.64 (-9.01%)
The S&P 500 rose 23.13 points on Friday 6 November 2026 as chip stocks recovered part of Thursday's loss. SMH.US gained 3.62%, AMD.US 11.04% and NVDA.US 2.78%, and nine chip names added about 53 bps. The index reached 7,444.20 in the session, up 1.23%, and closed 67.34 points below that high.
KRMN.US gained 42.13% on a third-quarter beat and a 2026 revenue guide of $755 million to $760 million, and FROG.US 35.33%. DKNG.US fell 21.30% on a wider third-quarter loss and AXON.US 18.18% on a guidance cut. Advancers trailed decliners 202 to 297. The Russell 2000 rose 0.89%. The VIX ended the week at 25.64, up 6.22 points from 19.42 on 30 October.
Macro themes that played out
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on 6 November 2026 that payrolls rose 165,000 in October, against 65,000 expected, and unemployment fell to 4.1%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, and August and September were revised up by a combined 84,000. Markets priced about a 78% chance of a December rate hike after the report, up from about 67% on Thursday, per Reuters. The FOMC meets on 8 and 9 December. The Bank of England raised its bank rate a quarter point to 4.00% on Thursday in an 8 to 1 vote, per Yahoo Finance.
ISM manufacturing rose to 55.5 on Monday, September JOLTS openings reached 7.5 million on Tuesday, and ADP counted 86,000 private jobs on Wednesday, when ISM services eased to 54.5. Initial claims fell to 189,000 on Thursday, and third-quarter productivity rose 3.6% while unit labor costs fell 0.7%. The University of Michigan's preliminary November sentiment reading rose to 51.0 from 48.0.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell 7 bps for the week to 4.86%, and the dollar index rose 0.39% to 102.28. December gold gained 4.51% to $4,074.90. Crude fell on US-Iran diplomacy and on Vice President Vance's post-election comment, "The reason we lost is the war," per CNN. National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said on Friday that the election results will not stop the AI data center build-out, per CNBC.
Week ahead, Monday to Friday (ET)
October CPI lands at 8:30am ET on Tuesday 10 November 2026, with early FactSet estimates at 3.9% year on year against 3.7% in September, per CNBC.
- Mon 9 Nov: KKR.US and CEG.US report before the open; TTWO.US, OXY.US, RKLB.US and ASTS.US after the close. The Treasury auctions $58 billion of 3-year notes at 1:00pm.
- Tue 10 Nov, 8:30am: October CPI. TDG.US reports before the open, CRWV.US after the close, and $42 billion of 10-year notes auction at 1:00pm.
- Wed 11 Nov: Veterans Day. FNV.US reports after the close.
- Thu 12 Nov, 8:30am: Initial jobless claims, then October existing home sales at 10:00am. NBIS.US reports before the open; CSCO.US and AMAT.US after the close.
- Fri 13 Nov, 8:30am: October producer prices.
NVDA.US reports later in the month, outside this week.
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