Morning Markets: Chips Drag Nasdaq, Bitcoin Holds Near $80,000

The morning after the biggest post-election rally in years, Wall Street split in two. Old economy stocks held most of Wednesday's gains in early trade on Thursday, November 5, while chip stocks sold off hard and dragged the Nasdaq lower. Bitcoin held most of its recovery near $80,000, gold stayed above $4,100 an ounce, and oil remained below $100 a barrel.

Wednesday's close is the number every desk started from. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,569.40 points, or 3.03 percent, to 53,356.12, its best post-midterm day since 1982. The S and P 500 gained 1.58 percent to 7,688.62 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.44 percent to 25,736.51. The VIX fear gauge fell about 20 percent to 16.61. Microsoft rose 6.7 percent and Amazon 6.1 percent on Wednesday, while Nvidia and Tesla fell about 3 percent each. Traders called it a rotation, not a uniform rally, and Thursday morning kept that shape.

The chip slide

Futures before the open told the story in miniature. Dow futures were up about half a percent, S and P 500 futures were close to flat, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down between 0.6 and 0.9 percent. Qualcomm fell about 9 percent in premarket trade after its quarterly report, a result covered in a separate Orbit Post story. Once trading opened, the slide widened. In late morning trade the Nasdaq was down about 3 percent, the S and P 500 was down about 1.7 percent and the Dow was down about 0.7 percent, according to live market coverage. Asia had set the tone overnight, with chip stocks falling across the region and South Korea's Kospi dropping sharply in a separate sell-off.

Crypto overnight

Bitcoin climbed back above $80,000 early on Thursday, recovering from an election period low near $75,700, according to CoinDesk live coverage. Ether rose about 4 percent to just above $2,400 and led the large coins. By the US morning, bitcoin had eased back toward $78,400 as stocks turned lower. The move tracked risk assets rather than gold: crypto rose with the election result clarity and fell back when the chip trade unwound. Nothing in the overnight action changed the longer picture. Bitcoin remains well below its highs of the year, and traders treated the $80,000 level as a marker to defend, not a breakout.

Oil, gold and the rate picture

Oil did the opposite of stocks on Wednesday. Brent crude fell about 9 percent to settle near $95 a barrel, its lowest since August 31, on bets that a Democratic Congress pushes Washington toward de-escalation with Iran. On Thursday morning Brent recovered part of the drop and traded near $98, with West Texas Intermediate near $90. Gold moved the other way all week. Spot gold traded near $4,123 to $4,150 on Thursday morning after a jump of about 3.5 percent on Wednesday took it back above $4,000. The 10 year Treasury yield sat near 4.85 to 4.89 percent.

In London, the Bank of England raised its policy rate to 4 percent from 3.75 percent, its first hike since August 2023, in a decision covered separately on this site. In Washington, the morning data point was jobs: initial jobless claims fell to 189,000, the lowest reading in decades, ahead of Friday's October jobs report.

Key numbers

• Dow, Wednesday close: up 3.03 percent to 53,356.12
• S and P 500, Wednesday close: up 1.58 percent to 7,688.62
• Nasdaq, Wednesday close: up 1.44 percent to 25,736.51
• Bitcoin: above $80,000 early Thursday, near $78,400 by the US morning
• Ether: about $2,400, up about 4 percent overnight
• Brent crude: near $95 at Wednesday's settle, near $98 Thursday morning
• Gold: near $4,123 to $4,150 an ounce
• 10 year Treasury yield: near 4.85 to 4.89 percent

What it means for ordinary money

For savers and borrowers, the yield matters more than the index. A 10 year yield close to 4.9 percent keeps mortgage rates high even on days when stocks celebrate. For 401k holders, the two day pattern is a reminder that the index in the headline is not the whole account: a Dow heavy fund rose on Wednesday and held up better on Thursday, while a Nasdaq heavy fund did the reverse. At the pump, oil under $100 is the one election result drivers can feel this week, if refiners pass the drop through. The next test is Friday's jobs report, which lands before the open and will set the tone for rates into next week.

Earnings after Thursday's close include Airbnb and Cloudflare, two names traders use to judge consumer travel demand and business spending on AI infrastructure. ConocoPhillips reported before the open and beat estimates, in a story published separately this morning.

This is not financial advice. Do your own due diligence.