[DiaryPoint | Reporter Um Ju-yong] U.S. President Donald Trump said on November 8 that the midterm election results had sent the country “a big step backward in history,” and claimed that $3 trillion had disappeared from the stock market since the election. Concerns over AI data center regulation and the pace of investment grew after Democrats took control of Congress, sending ripples through South Korean chip stocks as well.
Before the election, Trump had warned that a Democratic victory would push the economy into a depression-era downturn. Democrats won majorities in both the House and Senate in the November 3 election. After the results came in, Trump wrote on social media that the stock market had experienced “one of the worst days in history based on the election results.”
The $3 trillion figure is Trump’s claim. U.S. stocks did plunge on November 5, with the S&P 500 falling 4.36% and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 5.52%. But fact-checkers said those losses were nowhere near the largest on record. A decline in market capitalization and a single day’s stock return are different measures.
Democratic control of Congress puts AI investment rules in focus
One issue drawing attention after the election is regulation of AI data center construction and power use. After candidates critical of data centers won in some races and local efforts to restrict construction continued, investors weighed how slower data center investment could affect related companies and demand for semiconductors.
Even with Democrats in control of Congress, the Trump administration’s policy direction will not change overnight. Still, congressional budget and legislative reviews, along with state and local permitting debates, could affect investment in AI infrastructure, analysts said. The market reaction to the Democratic win also reflected concerns about AI companies’ capital spending and an existing pullback in stock prices, alongside expectations for regulation.
South Korean stocks also came under pressure immediately after the election. According to a Yonhap News report citing Korea Exchange data, the KOSPI fell 1.98% early in trading on November 5, while Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped 3.56% and 5.8%, respectively. The market factored concerns about U.S. regulation of AI data centers into its outlook for semiconductor investment and memory demand.
The new U.S. Congress is set to convene on January 3, 2027. Budget negotiations and legislative discussions related to AI infrastructure are expected to continue until then. For South Korea’s semiconductor sector, the next factors to watch will be any actual regulatory changes and shifts in data center investment plans.