US stock index futures stabilized on Wednesday after dropping sharply initially, as investors assessed the Democrats' sweeping victories in the midterm elections.
Democrats took control of both the Senate and House, scoring victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations as tens of millions of voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump.
The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, following two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to rein in Trump.
Global stocks swung between gains and losses as investors weighed the prospects of tougher regulation, higher taxes and oversight of areas such as AI and cryptocurrencies.
"The significance of these midterm elections is more like a referendum on AI than a referendum on Trump. If the AI theme is subject to some restrictions, then the US economy, US inflation, and US monetary policy all become very, very uncertain," said Aidan Yao, senior investment strategist for Asia at the Amundi Investment Institute.
Shares of hyperscalers Amazon.com, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta Platforms were trading lower on the Tradegate platform in Europe. Elon Musk's SpaceX dropped more than 4%.
Democrats made inroads in Texas and Georgia, key states for data centers. As the massive data centers proliferate, many Americans are concerned about the strain on the environment and impact on energy costs, as well as about the technology itself.
The AI trade has been under pressure lately as investors grow wary of Big Tech's soaring AI spending and little evidence of adequate returns. The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 confirmed it had entered a technical correction on Monday.
US markets initially declined on the news about the results, with Nasdaq-100 futures falling as much as 2.4% and S&P 500 futures down 1.4%.
At 3:13 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 237 points, or 0.46%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 11.25 points, or 0.15%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 72.75 points, or 0.26%.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Jiaxing Li; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
Copyright (2026) Thomson Reuters.
This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.