By Shashwat Chauhan and Utkarsh Hathi
Nov 6 (Reuters) – The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose on Friday as microchip stocks rebounded from heavy losses in the previous session on concerns that a Democratic-led Congress could lead to tighter regulation of AI, even as the jobs report raised concerns about rising interest rates.
The Nasdaq Composite recorded its biggest one-day decline in 19 months on Thursday, confirming that it had entered correction territory. The index was also heading for a fourth consecutive weekly decline.
The selloff followed Democrats winning the midterm elections, including in some key states with data centers, stoking fears of a slowdown in AI data center construction. Optimism over the sector’s rapid growth has propelled stock markets to record highs this year.
Mega-cap and growth stocks were mixed on Friday. Nvidia added 5.6%, after experiencing its worst day since January 2025, when the emergence of Chinese low-cost AI model DeepSeek shook Wall Street.
Chip stocks saw a recovery, with the broader semiconductor index up 4.6%, after plunging more than 12% in the previous session. AMD, Intel and Micron Technology rose between 3% and 10.5%.
At the same time, U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose more than expected in October and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, suggesting the labor market remained resilient.
“These are solid numbers and normally that would mean the Fed should be more hawkish,” said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.
“The flip side is what we saw yesterday and the way volatility has increased, will the Fed want to raise interest rates in the face of a wobbly market?”
Traders have been betting that the Fed could raise rates as early as next month, with a 78% chance of such a move in December, up from the 70% chance seen earlier.
As of 10:21 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 51,530.05 points, the S&P 500 was up 72.56 points, or 1 percent, at 7,426.29 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 421.2 points, or 1.73 percent, at 24,736.2.
Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with information technology leading the gains. Consumer staples and health care lagged.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, eased slightly on Friday, to 23.88, after posting its biggest one-day gain in about 19 months on Thursday.
Data center operators IREN and Applied Digital, neoclouds CoreWeave and Nebius Group, and AI-exposed utility and equipment providers such as GE Vernova and Constellation Energy recovered from heavy losses last session.
Gn bussni
