Dow up 1,500 points as Big Tech rallies, data center stocks sink

Big Tech winners: Amazon rose 7.4% to a three-month high and Apple jumped nearly 7% to a record, Reuters reported, while Microsoft gained 6.3%. If the gains hold, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft are on course to add more than $750 billion in combined market value, according to Reuters. Reuters said investors are betting that limits on new data centers would make the giants' existing ones more valuable and ease pressure on their spending, which the big tech companies plan to push above $740 billion this year, up from about $400 billion last year.

Data center losers: Smaller companies that build or rent out AI computing fell. CoreWeave dropped more than 7% and Nebius more than 4%, and the Roundhill Neocloud ETF, a fund that tracks those companies, fell 6%, CNBC reported. Reuters said Applied Digital and Iren fell between 6% and 13% on fears that new limits could derail their borrowing-fueled expansion plans. Chip stocks also slipped, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF down 1% and Nvidia down about 1%, per CNBC. The worry centers on Texas, where Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who backs a data center moratorium, won the governorship; Wells Fargo estimates cited by CNBC put 27% of planned U.S. data center capacity there.

Musk-linked stocks: Tesla was down about 2% late in the morning, CNBC reported, after falling about 5% at the open, and SpaceX had been down about 4% after the open. Musk spent at least $474 million on the midterms, including $224 million in Texas, where Republicans Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott lost, according to CNBC. "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now," Musk posted on X early Wednesday.

How outlets framed it: CNBC led with the end of political uncertainty, crediting Democrats' clear win, Trump's acceptance of the results and falling oil. Reuters focused on the tech split, with big companies gaining because new limits would protect what they already own. Fox Business highlighted both sides of the business reaction: some investors welcomed the "blockade against new legislation" that a divided government can bring, as Federated Hermes' Deborah Cunningham put it, while tech investors worried about tighter rules on AI and data centers.

What the evidence shows: A party losing Congress has not usually derailed stocks. The S&P 500 rose through year-end in five of eight midterm cycles since 1930 when the president's party lost the House, according to Ned Davis Research, Fox Business reported. That record is mixed, not a guarantee, and a midday gain says nothing about where stocks close.

What would change the story: Whether the gains hold through the 4 p.m. ET close, the final calls in the uncalled Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi, and any concrete moves on a data center pause in Texas once Hinojosa takes office.

Updated Nov. 4 at 9:20 a.m. PT. Index levels are from CNBC as of 11:48 a.m. ET; individual stock moves are from CNBC and Reuters late Wednesday morning, and prices will keep moving until the 4 p.m. ET close. The $750 billion figure is Reuters' estimate of the combined value Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft would add if the gains hold. An earlier version of this story reported the 9:30 a.m. ET open, when the Dow was up 997.76 points, per Reuters. Photos are file images.