Breaking: Wall Street's Worst Day Since Apr 2025, Nasdaq −5.5%, Gold $4,100

US stocks closed Thursday 5 Nov with heavy selling. The S&P 500 fell 334.89 points, or 4.36%, to 7,353.73, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 5.52% to 24,315.00 and entered correction territory (more than 10% below its 6 Oct closing high). The Dow Jones lost 1,833.06 points, or 3.44%, according to Fox Business and Yahoo Finance, which called it Wall Street’s worst day since April 2025.

Selling was concentrated in technology and chip stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) plunged 12.25%, Nvidia fell about 9% and Tesla about 10.8%. The VIX volatility index jumped about 70% to 28.18. Vanda Research said retail investors were net sellers of about $358 million in US stocks, the most since March 2020.

Reuters and Fox Business said the selling came as investors weighed what the Democrats’ midterm victory, which gives them control of both chambers, means for AI regulation and data-center construction. Some analysts think AI infrastructure investment could slow and become more expensive, while Nomura sees part of the move as profit-taking by funds holding large tech positions rather than a fundamental problem.

In financial markets, money flowed into US Treasuries and the 10-year yield fell to around 4.84% from 4.90% on Wednesday (AP). Reuters reported that markets pushed back expectations for the Fed’s next rate hike to March. The dollar (DXY) was little changed near 101.5, but risk currencies weakened: the Australian dollar (AUD/USD) fell about 1%, while the yen strengthened, with USD/JPY down about 0.6% to around 157.5, helped further by hawkish BoJ meeting minutes. Gold (XAUUSD) rose about 0.7% to around $4,087–4,100.

This morning the key question is how far the selling spreads into Asian stock markets, which usually weighs on risk currencies such as the Australian dollar and supports the yen. If worries persist, yields could fall further, which is positive for gold, although in panicky markets gold can also be sold to raise cash. Later on Friday 6 Nov, markets await the nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report, which will steer expectations for the Fed’s next move. See the release time in the economic calendar.

On Friday morning, 6 Nov, the chip and AI selloff reached Asian markets. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 8.55% to 4,923.47, triggering a 20-minute trading halt (circuit breaker) at around 00:03 GMT, before the index recovered above 5,000 at around 00:45 GMT. Samsung Electronics fell about 10% and SK hynix almost 12%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped more than 5% after the open, breaking below 60,000 to around 57,000, according to AP, AFP and Aju Press, which attributed the moves to worries that the US midterm results will lead to tighter control of AI data centers.

In currencies, the Korean won weakened to 1,357.9 per dollar from 1,342.1 the previous day, while major Forex markets were relatively calm: USD/JPY traded around 157.6–157.9, gold around $4,085–4,100 and AUD/USD around 0.693–0.694 (Trading Economics, FXStreet). The next thing to watch is whether the selling spreads to European markets and US stocks tonight, ahead of the NFP report, which could add volatility to the yen and gold.