The Nasdaq lost 5.5% on Thursday as U.S. politics barged into data centers. The Anthropic IPO, SpaceX, Agility and Nvidia chips in China all need to be read through the lens of that shock.

Nasdaq plunges 5.5%: markets fear the brakes on data centers

On Thursday, November 5, Wall Street had its worst session in a long time. The trigger: the Democrats’ win in the midterm elections, which has the AI sector spooked.

The essentials:

  • According to CBS News, the Nasdaq Composite lost 1,422 points (-5.5%) and closed at 24,315, entering “correction” territory (more than 10% below its October record).
  • The S&P 500 fell 4.4% and the Dow Jones dropped 1,833 points (-3.4%).
  • Nvidia fell 9.2%, AMD 17.3% and CoreWeave 9.8% (CBS figures).
  • Analysts point to fears of AI regulation and a slowdown in data centers.

Why politics hits chips

A data center is a big building packed with chips that consumes a lot of electricity and water. Local residents are pushing back more and more. Investors worry that Democratic lawmakers, in Congress and in the states, will slow these projects down.

Joe Maher of Capital Economics ties the reaction to that regulatory risk and believes the boom is “in its late innings.” According to the UBS analysis cited by Reuters, construction pauses could threaten about 30% of the U.S. data center capacity planned for 2028.

What the financial mechanics say

Reuters adds that the “neoclouds” (CoreWeave, Nebius) have also been hit by higher rates since late summer. Their five-year CDS, the insurance against default, hit a record for CoreWeave. Nebius and CoreWeave have lost at least half their value since the Nasdaq’s record on October 6.

Ted Parkhill (Incline Investment Management) sums it up: the market is moving “from the promise of AI to the price of AI.” For Adam Turnquist (LPL Financial), volatility has not yet reached the extremes of a capitulation.

For European investors

Nasdaq-100 UCITS ETFs, including the one eligible for the PEA, track this index and are therefore taking the hit. Reuters notes that several analysts see this session as a possible shift in mood. That’s not a forecast: only what comes next will tell whether this is a blip or a turning point.

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Anthropic: the IPO wobbles after the crash

The Anthropic IPO was supposed to be November’s big event. After Thursday’s plunge, investors are hesitating over the timing and the price.

The essentials:

  • According to Reuters (November 5), potential investors doubt the roadshow can happen in time for a November listing.
  • The Wall Street Journal reports skepticism about a $1.5 trillion valuation; some see it as the top of their range.
  • Anthropic declined to comment.
  • The roadshow was expected the week of November 9.

What has changed since our last edition

We had covered the latest S-1/A filing. What’s new: the market. Reuters describes the steepest tech selloff in a year, which is weighing on every IPO. Anthropic may have to offer a bigger discount, given its quarterly losses and its infrastructure commitments.

Reuters also says investors are waiting for October revenue, left blank in the latest filing. It will show whether growth is picking back up after the slowdown of recent months. Adam Crisafulli (Vital Knowledge) thinks the selloff could delay the deal, which could raise up to $100 billion.

The tech → market bridge

An IPO this size sucks up capital: funds have to sell something else to take part. When the market falls, they’re less willing to pay up. For a European saver, access will go through brokers that offer the U.S. market: nothing so far suggests it will be PEA-eligible.

Nothing has been canceled at this point. A delay is only a scenario reported by anonymous sources.

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SpaceX picks Qualcomm for its mobile network, but the stock dives

On Wednesday, November 4, SpaceX put a name on its future terrestrial network. The next day, the stock got caught in the tech crash.

The essentials:

  • Qualcomm announced a multiyear deal covering tens of thousands of U.S. cell sites, with rollout expected starting in 2027 (Axios, CNBC).
  • Qualcomm supplies its Dragonwing platforms and software; SpaceX develops the rest.
  • Financial terms were not disclosed.
  • According to TIKR, SpaceX lost about 9% on Thursday, like the rest of AI.

What the deal changes

Until now, Starlink has mostly talked about direct-to-satellite connectivity. This is about real antennas on the ground, like a traditional carrier. CNBC notes that SpaceX has not named a partner among tower companies or said how many new towers would be needed. Axios points out that SpaceX has also floated the idea of turning Starlink terminals into small cells.

The backdrop: the spectrum purchase from EchoStar, valued at $17 billion. In our last edition, we reported preliminary, unconfirmed talks with EchoStar involving Boost Mobile. Yahoo Finance reports that sources expect a response from AT&T and T-Mobile if SpaceX bought Boost; that’s still a rumor.

The tech → market bridge

The stock is caught between two forces: a diversification story (the mobile carrier) and the selloff across the whole AI sector, which SpaceX is part of. Fast Company adds a political risk: a Democratic majority could complicate SpaceX’s mobile ambitions (analysis, not fact).

SpaceX is not PEA-eligible: you need a standard brokerage account.

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Data centers: delivery delays worry Microsoft and its suppliers

Neoclouds rent computing power to the cloud giants. Any delay on their end shows up in share prices right away.

The essentials:

  • IREN says Microsoft requested changes to networking equipment, delaying its Childress (Texas) site, under a 5-year contract worth about $9.7 billion.
  • According to Benzinga, Microsoft cut its 2026 capital spending budget by about $5 billion; the exact link to IREN remains unclear.
  • According to Bloomberg (via Reuters), Microsoft is keeping a closer eye on projects from Nebius, IREN and Nscale.
  • 24/7 Wall St.: IREN -9%, Nebius -11%, CoreWeave -7% on Wednesday.

Satellite images and permits

The company Aterio says satellite images show the Horizon 4 site without generators or cooling, raising questions about the delivery planned for year-end (reported by the press, not confirmed by IREN).

Elsewhere, Oracle’s New Mexico site (a $165 billion project) is waiting on an air quality permit and its power is arriving later: according to the South Korean press and BigGo, it’s slipping to next year. The Jupiter story had already appeared in our pages.

The tech → market bridge

These companies carry heavy debt. A delivery delay pushes back their revenue while their interest keeps running. Bloomberg also reports an anonymous seller looking to offload $500 million in data center loans, and a drop in CoreWeave bonds (headline relayed by FourWeekMBA; details unverified).

For a European investor, these are U.S. stocks outside the PEA. They mostly serve as a thermometer for the sector.

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Agility Robotics goes public at the worst possible moment

It’s the first U.S. pure-play humanoid robot company to be publicly listed. Without knowing it, it picked the worst day imaginable.

The essentials:

  • Agility merged with the SPAC Churchill Capital Corp XI on November 4 and has traded under AGLT since the 5th.
  • Pre-money valuation of $2.5 billion, about $465 million in gross proceeds.
  • That’s less than the more than $600 million expected when the deal was announced in June.
  • All existing shareholders are subject to a 180-day lockup.

A SPAC, not a traditional IPO

A SPAC is a listed empty shell that merges with a real company. It’s faster than an IPO, but often riskier for retail investors. Shareholders approved the deal with more than 84% of votes cast.

The first session

According to one blog (single source, take with caution), the stock opened at $11.26, then swung between $11.49 and $8.40 before closing at $10.83, amid the broader tech crash. Commentators tie the move to AI and chip stocks.

Why it’s a test

After Unitree’s surge in China (covered in late October), AGLT offers an American point of comparison. Humanoid robots are still a bet on the future: little revenue, lots of promises. For a European, the stock is not PEA-eligible.

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Nvidia: H200s pile up in Hong Kong without Beijing’s approval

Washington opened the door to H200 sales in China. Now it’s Beijing that won’t let the chips in.

The essentials:

  • Reuters (November 5, two sources): about 600,000 H200 chips are waiting in Hong Kong for import approval into mainland China.
  • A few large Chinese internet groups have reportedly received about 10,000 each in recent months.
  • A server with eight H200s was selling for more than 6 million yuan ($900,000) in late October, about three times more than a year earlier.
  • SMIC fell as much as 7% in Hong Kong on the news.

What has changed since our last edition

We had covered the RTX Pro 5500 and the 51% rule imposed on clouds. What’s new: the holdup is now on the Chinese side. Reuters reports Beijing is reluctant to increase its dependence on American technology. A U.S. rule requires case-by-case review of H200 licenses, so Washington is no longer the only bottleneck.

The tech → market bridge

For Nvidia, stranded inventory means China sales that aren’t coming in, despite strong demand. For Chinese manufacturers like SMIC, an import freeze is actually good news, hence the sector’s mixed reaction.

Hong Kong doesn’t have the data center capacity to power up these chips, one analysis notes. A single source mentions a customs halt, not confirmed elsewhere.

For a European, Nvidia remains outside the PEA, but it is held in global UCITS ETFs.

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Edition prepared by our monitoring agent (data and sources as of Friday, November 6, 2026), reviewed in line with our editorial policy. General information, not investment advice: investing carries a risk of capital loss.