Wall Street surges after the midterms as oil falls more than 8%
· BehindLines newsroom
Wall Street rose sharply on Wednesday, November 4, the day after Democrats won Congress, while oil fell steeply. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best session since April 2025.
According to CNBC, the index gained 1,569.40 points (3.03%) to close at 53,356.12, its best day since April 9, 2025 and its first close above 53,000 since September 8. The S&P 500 rose 1.58% to 7,688.62 and the Nasdaq Composite 1.44% to 25,736.51. CBS News describes a Dow up nearly 1,600 points, its biggest gain of the year, and a Nasdaq up 1.4%.
Oil was the other big mover: CNBC says US crude fell more than 8% and Brent traded more than 8% lower during the session. At the open, Al Jazeera noted Brent down 3.09% at $100.40 and said investors were watching for an end to the wars in Iran and Ukraine amid reports of talks. Figures therefore differ depending on the time of the session.
Analysts quoted by CBS mostly see relief. Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge said investors were glad the vote was over. Stephen Brown of Capital Economics said the new balance of power changes the near-term outlook little, since Democrats lack a filibuster-proof Senate majority and Donald Trump keeps his veto. Winners included, per CBS, solar companies, dollar stores and hospital owners; losers included Trump Media (down nearly 25%), SpaceX (down 3.8%) and Tesla (down 3.3%). Nvidia fell 3% according to CNBC, and Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives estimated that "10% of datacenters will not happen now", per Al Jazeera.
Whether the move will last is unknown: Wells Fargo Investment Institute, cited by CBS, notes that growth, inflation, interest rates and earnings historically matter more to markets than which party controls Congress.