A Democratic sweep of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections left Wall Street divided in Wednesday's trade. While AI chipmakers, memory companies and data centre operators fell, hyperscalers surged sharply.
Shares of Amazon surged 8% to a three-month high, while Apple and Microsoft advanced 6% each. Alphabet gained 5.7%, while Meta Platforms climbed 3.5%, powering a rally on Wall Street after days of selling fuelled by concerns over the soaring costs of the AI boom.
Apple, which has avoided Big Tech's massive AI spending but is feeling the impact of an AI-fuelled surge in memory chip prices, jumped nearly 7% to a record high.
If the gains hold, the five companies are on course to add more than $750 billion in combined market value, according to Bloomberg.
A Democratic-led Congress could push for tighter regulation of AI development and data centre construction. Some investors see this as a sign that hyperscalers may moderate their spending.