Tech shares fall as investors weigh data center curbs

U.S. technology shares fell sharply on Thursday, November 5, as investors weighed whether Democratic gains in the midterm elections could slow data-center construction and affect companies tied to artificial-intelligence infrastructure. At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.09% and the S&P 500 had fallen 1.66%; those were intraday readings, not closing figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.66% at the same time. Chipmakers and data-center-related companies led losses. The semiconductor index was down 7.1% in morning trading, with Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel and Marvell Technology among the stocks weighing on it. Qualcomm fell 9% after reporting fourth-quarter smartphone-chip sales below Wall Street estimates, with sluggish demand and declining Apple-related revenue cited in the report. Data-center operators IREN, Hut 8 and Applied Digital also traded lower, while Dell fell 10.5%. The selloff followed a Wednesday rally in major technology shares. Five large technology companies were on course to add more than $750 billion in combined market value if their gains held through that session, according to a market estimate. Apple rose nearly 7% to...