Wall Street threw a party on Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, putting the Dow Jones Industrial Average on course for its biggest one-day gain in 19 months.

The logic, roughly: divided-or-just-different government means less war, less spending on the AI arms race, and maybe some help with affordability. Markets are nothing if not eager to price in a narrative.

Oil tumbled on bets the result will push Washington toward an end to the Iran war. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 7.2% to $89.17 a barrel, and Brent sank 8.5% to $94.84.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X that American voters "said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message," while President Donald Trump told the Financial Times the U.S. is "locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it."

Here's the scoreboard by the numbers:

• The S&P 500 rose 1.8% to 7,701, up 133 points.
• The Dow gained 1,515 points, or 2.9%, to 53,302, its largest one-day advance in both points and percentage terms since April 9, 2025.
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3% to 28,557.
• The Russell 2000 advanced 1.5% to 2,856.
• The CBOE Volatility Index dropped 16.7% to 17.35.
• Bonds also rallied: The 10-year Treasury yield fell 6 basis points to 4.90%. The 2-year yield slipped 5 basis points to 4.58%, and the 30-year yield dropped 4 basis points to 5.30%.
• Gold rose 3.3% to $4,070 an ounce and silver jumped 4.9% to $52.20.
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) climbed 4% to $80,432, back above $80,000.

On the data front, the ISM services PMI eased to 54.5 in October from 54.9, below the 54.8 forecast, while the prices-paid gauge cooled to 73 from 74. ADP private payrolls rose by 86,000, above the 69,000 forecast.

Wednesday's Performance In Major US Indices

The ETF tape told the same story:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO) rose 1.8%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA) rallied 2.9%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) gained 1.5%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM) advanced 1.4%.

Retailers Rally, Data-Center Builders Crack

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) led the blue-chip index with a 6.8% jump, as investors bet a Democratic Congress will cool the AI spending race among cloud giants. The move added about $265 billion to Microsoft's market value. Yes, you read that right: a single day, a quarter-trillion dollars, on a political thesis.

The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLY) led the S&P 500 with a 4.3% gain, as lower gasoline prices and the prospect of affordability measures from a Democratic Congress lifted Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), up 6.9%, and The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), up 5.4%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT) and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE: XHB) each rose 5.6%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE) was the laggard, down 5.4% as crude slid, with the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE: XOP) off 6.9%.

The Only Sector in the Red

Industrials were the only other sector in the red, down 1.1%, as data-center contractors sold off, while communication services rose 4.1%, staples 3.8%, financials 2.8%, real estate 2.7%, materials and health care 2.4% each, technology 0.6% and utilities 0.2%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH) fell 2%.

Among Russell 1000 gainers, Kyndryl Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KD) soared 36.3% after a fiscal second-quarter adjusted loss of 12 cents a share, narrower than the expected 17-cent loss. Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ: DUOL) jumped 30.9% after daily active users grew 29% and Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Equal-Weight with a $120 target, up from $80.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) climbed 17.1% after third-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.31 beat estimates by 75 cents, helped by about 67 cents of tariff refunds, and it lifted its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.95-$6.25. Procore Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PCOR) rose 16.9% after third-quarter revenue of $402.3 million topped the $383.7 million expected and the company approved a new $300 million buyback. UWM Holdings Corp. (NYSE: UWMC) gained 16% after returning to a $212.6 million net profit in the third quarter.

On the Downside

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) slipped 1.3%, wiping out about $66 billion in market value, as chip and data-center names lagged the hyperscalers.

Amdocs Ltd. (NASDAQ: DOX) plunged 28% after guiding fourth-quarter revenue to $975 million, well below estimates, citing a dispute with T-Mobile. Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS) sank 24.1% after a second straight cut to its full-year EPS outlook and the exit of its finance chief, prompting JPMorgan to downgrade the stock to Neutral with a $38 target, down from $53.

Data-center builders took the election hardest. Everus Construction Group Inc. (NYSE: ECG) fell 23.6% despite record third-quarter results and higher full-year guidance, and Modine Manufacturing Co. (NYSE: MOD) lost 23.3% after fiscal second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.35 missed estimates, even as data-center sales rose 95%. Sterling Infrastructure Inc. (NASDAQ: STRL) slid 20.6%, alongside Comfort Systems USA Inc. (NYSE: FIX), down 16.4%, Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE: PWR), down 12.8%, and Vistra Corp. (NYSE: VST), down 12.8%.

Wednesday's Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Wednesday's Russell 1000 Top Losers

What's Next

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reports after the close, with Wall Street expecting adjusted EPS of $2.16. Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARM) is seen at 48 cents, AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP) at $4.03 and McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) at $10.72.