US stocks rise as Democrats take control of Congress

US stocks climbed Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, reversing an overnight slide in futures as investors weighed the prospect of limits on President Donald Trump’s agenda and new scrutiny of artificial intelligence companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 2%, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 gained more than 1% each. At the opening bell, the three indexes were up 1.8%, 1% and 1.1%, respectively, according to Al Jazeera. Trump’s social media statement that he would accept the election results also eased political uncertainty, Al Jazeera reported.

Democrats won Senate seats in Republican strongholds including Texas, Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to The Guardian. Al Jazeera reported that Sherrod Brown won a Senate seat in Ohio, James Talarico won one in Texas, and Gina Hinojosa won the Texas governor’s race.

“The scale of the losses will inevitably raise questions about Trump’s ability to push through his agenda over the next two years, and markets are already reacting,” Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at trading platform IG, told The Guardian. He said the dollar was under pressure while gold and silver were benefiting as haven assets.

The dollar index fell to a one-month low. The pound reached its highest level since mid-September, while the euro, yen and Swiss franc also gained against the dollar, The Guardian reported. Investors bought US Treasury bonds, pushing the benchmark 10-year yield down 4.7 basis points to 4.918% and the two-year yield down 3.7 basis points to 4.597%. Gold rose 2.2% to more than $4,000 an ounce.

Technology stocks sent mixed signals. Oracle and Nvidia opened lower, but Alphabet rose 3.5% at the opening bell, according to Al Jazeera. AI-related shares had fallen during Asian trading on expectations that Democrats would seek tighter regulation, The Guardian reported.

“There is no way to sugarcoat that Democrats taking control, especially over the Senate, will create some major hurdles for AI and tech legislation in the Beltway over the next two years,” Dan Ives, managing partner of Yorkville Ives, said in a note cited by Al Jazeera. In a separate post, Ives estimated that 10% of data centers would no longer be built.

The Guardian quoted ING’s Chris Turner saying investors were assessing Hinojosa’s call for an immediate moratorium on data-center construction. But Tai Hui of JP Morgan Asset Management cautioned that Trump could still influence markets through trade, tariffs, foreign policy and existing regulations.

Elsewhere, import-dependent retailers gained: Walmart rose 1.3% and Target 3.3%, Al Jazeera reported. UnitedHealthcare fell 2.9% and CVS Health 12%, while Cigna gained 1.6%. In Europe, bank shares rose 2.8%, while wind-power companies Vestas and Ørsted gained nearly 5% and 7.4%, respectively, according to The Guardian.

Oil prices fell. Al Jazeera reported Brent crude futures down $3.20, or 3.09%, at $100.40 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate down $3.01, or 3.13%, at $93.08. The outlet said investors were also watching reports of talks concerning the wars involving Iran and Russia and Ukraine.