Nasdaq 100 dives 6.36% in worst session since 2020

On Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 tumbled 6.36%, marking its largest daily decline since 2020. The selloff swept across sectors, hitting memory and storage names, chip equipment firms, and data-center providers. The Nasdaq Composite slid 5.52%, the S&P 500 shed 4.35%, and the Dow gave up 1,833 points. All three benchmarks recorded their worst session since April 2025.

Just one day after the Dow soared by almost 1,600 points, it surrendered all of that advance and more. The Russell 2000 declined 4.45%, and every stock in the Dow ended lower. The initial pressure was concentrated in AI-related names, but by the closing bell the rout had extended far beyond that sector.

Market participants kept assessing how the midterm outcomes might influence the speed of AI data-center expansion. As equities tumbled, Treasury yields dropped and gold attracted buying interest. Although lower yields typically support growth stocks, the current decline was accompanied by a widespread flight from risk, providing scant comfort for technology shares.

Closing figures for U.S. stock benchmarks

• Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1,833.16 points (−3.44%) to 51,528.16

• S&P 500 lost 334.77 points (−4.35%) to 7,353.85

• Nasdaq Composite fell 1,421.52 points (−5.52%) to 24,315.00

• Russell 2000 declined 127.11 points (−4.45%) to 2,729.84

• Nasdaq 100 dropped 1,807.36 points (−6.36%) to 26,629.81

All Dow components closed in negative territory

Nvidia was the worst performer in the Dow, sliding 9.26%. Cisco dropped 7.62%, Goldman Sachs declined 6.44%, Caterpillar sank 6.39%, and Honeywell fell 5.55%. Verizon, down just 0.04%, and Coca-Cola, off 0.07%, were nearest to unchanged.

Breadth data painted a similar picture. On the S&P 500, losing stocks outpaced gainers by a margin of 411 to 75. On the Nasdaq, 2,822 issues declined while only 463 advanced, giving a ratio of roughly six losers for each winner. The NYSE Composite recorded 1,512 declining stocks versus 288 advancing.

Stocks in AI and semiconductors that dropped 10% or more

At the close, a watchlist identified 22 individual equities that lost at least 10%, along with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF. Sandisk posted the steepest drop, and the weakness extended across most segments of the chip and data-center supply chain.

• Memory and storage: Sandisk sank 22.26%, Micron Technology fell 17.46%, Western Digital dropped 17.35%.

• Chip designers and manufacturers: AMD slid 17.26%, Arm Holdings fell 13.08%, Taiwan Semiconductor dropped 10.78%, Texas Instruments lost 10.70%, Broadcom declined 10.43%, Intel fell 10.33%, Monolithic Power Systems dropped 10.28%.

• Networking, connectivity and optics: Astera Labs lost 19.62%, Lumentum fell 18.68%, Credo Technology dropped 17.71%, Marvell Technology declined 16.43%, Coherent fell 12.98%, Arista Networks dropped 10.82%.

• Semiconductor equipment and components: Lam Research fell 16.36%, Applied Materials dropped 13.58%, SkyWater Technology lost 13.40%, KLA fell 13.35%.

• Data-center compute and power: Nebius Group dropped 14.95%, Bloom Energy fell 16.41%.

• Semiconductor ETF: VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 11.21%.

All seven Magnificent Seven stocks declined, with Tesla and Nvidia leading the losses

Not a single member of the Magnificent Seven ended in positive ground, though the degree of decline varied sharply. Tesla slumped 10.77% and Nvidia fell 9.26%. Those two were the only ones that underperformed all three major benchmarks: the S&P 500 (−4.35%), the Nasdaq Composite (−5.52%), and the Nasdaq 100 (−6.36%).

Apple was the strongest, dropping just 1.53%, followed by Amazon at −2.19% and Alphabet at −2.20%. Microsoft and Meta also fared better than the broader indices but still recorded larger losses than the Dow (−3.44%).

• Tesla: down 10.77% to $343.69

• Nvidia: down 9.26% to $181.60

• Meta Platforms: down 3.96% to $605.08

• Microsoft: down 3.58% to $535.93

• Alphabet: down 2.20% to $282.57

• Amazon: down 2.19% to $260.21

• Apple: down 1.53% to $344.17

In the next rally attempt, I will keep an eye on Tesla and Nvidia. If buying interest emerges and those two stocks can maintain their advances, that could be an early indication that the selling pressure is subsiding among the most beaten-down megacaps.

Year-to-date performance after the selloff

The YTD figures provide context for the rout. SanDisk dropped over 20% in one session yet remained up more than 200% for 2026. Micron and AMD each declined roughly 17% but still retained significant YTD gains. By the close, Nvidia and Broadcom had slipped into negative territory for the year. The chip sector took a heavy blow, but the buffer they carried into the day was far from uniform.

Among the Magnificent Seven, three stocks were still in positive YTD territory while four had turned negative. Apple topped the group with an approximate 27% gain for the year, and Amazon and Microsoft remained up by double digits. Tesla was the weakest, down about 24%. Outside of technology, Target, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Coca-Cola all held onto substantial advances. In the software sector, Intuit had dropped roughly 46% and Oracle 41%, among the deepest losses on the watchlist.

Despite the November 5 selloff, all five major U.S. indices remain positive for 2026. The Russell 2000 is the sole index still showing double-digit gains, while the Nasdaq Composite has the smallest advance.

Price returns as of the November 5 close, calculated from the December 31, 2025 close.

Entering the session, the Nasdaq Composite was up roughly 10.7% for the year; after the selloff, it stood at just 4.6%. The S&P 500's gain shrank from approximately 12.3% to 7.4%.

What to watch following a selloff of this magnitude

Sellers hold the reins going into the next trading day. On any bounce, my first focus will be whether the rebound can sustain itself and if a broader set of stocks join in. A handful of megacaps can push an index higher early on even when most stocks are still declining. If breadth picks up and the chip names that led the decline begin to hold their recovery gains, that would give buyers stronger evidence that the selling is abating. If those stocks give back their advances and breadth remains poor, the onus stays on buyers.