Nearly $3 trillion was wiped off the market value of S&P 500 companies as a massive sell-off in technology and artificial intelligence stocks sent shockwaves through global financial markets, following the Democrats’ sweeping victories in the US midterm elections.

Wall Street witnessed a sharp downturn on Thursday as investors rushed to sell technology shares, particularly those linked to artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing and data-center infrastructure.

According to Reuters, the combined market value of S&P 500 companies fell by approximately $3 trillion in a single trading session, marking one of the sharpest market sell-offs in recent months.

The S&P 500 plunged 4.36%, recording its steepest one-day decline since April 2025, when the US President Donald Trump's tariff measures triggered turmoil across global markets.

According to Bloomberg, the Nasdaq 100 dropped 6.4%, wiping out approximately $2.5 trillion in the market value of its constituent companies. Nvidia, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI boom, saw its shares fall by around 9%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also suffered a particularly severe blow, plunging more than 12% as investors pulled out of chip-related stocks.

The sell-off extended into Asian markets on Friday, with major regional indexes recording substantial losses. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 5.96%, South Korea's KOSPI dropped 6.02%, and Taiwan's TAIEX declined 4.51%.

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Reuters reported that companies supplying the infrastructure behind the global technology industry, particularly semiconductor manufacturers and data-center-related businesses, were among the hardest hit by the market turmoil.

US President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the market downturn, as investors weighed the possibility that the midterm victories could lead to tighter oversight of AI and restrictions on new data center projects.

"The Stock Market crashed today because the Dumocrats had a big Tuesday — So sad to see, you only have yourselves to blame!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Several Democratic candidates made criticism of the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers a prominent part of their campaigns, including Abdul El-Sayed, James Talarico and Jon Ossoff.

Ossoff, who won reelection in Georgia, addressed the issue in his victory speech, criticizing the technology industry's leadership. "The titans of Silicon Valley dig bunkers for themselves and warn that the artificial intelligence they’re creating risks human extinction," he said.