US stocks are soaring after President Donald Trump’s party lost its sole control of Washington in the midterm elections.
asserted
party → soar → elections
Stocks generally do well in the months following any midterm US election, regardless of who wins, and the S&P 500 jumped 1.8 per cent.
asserted
S&P → do → election
The Australian sharemarket is set to surge higher, with futures pointing to a rise of 172 points, or 1.9 per cent, at the open.
asserted
sharemarket → set → open
The ASX lost 0.6 per cent on Wednesday.
asserted
ASX → lose → Wednesday
Stocks of solar-power companies, dollar stores and hospital owners helped lead the way as Wall Street tried to sort the winners from losers following the widespread losses for Republicans.
asserted
Street → help → Republicans
Investors, meanwhile, see risks ahead for Trump’s social-media company, the artificial-intelligence industry and businesses owned by Elon Musk, who donated heavily to Republicans.
asserted
who → see → Republicans
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell below $US100 for the first time in nearly a month.
asserted
price → fall → month
Vice President JD Vance blamed the war with Iran, which caused a spike in oil prices, for Republicans’ midterm losses.
asserted
which → blame → losses
Strategists along Wall Street had been urging investors not to get swept up in the election because it may not matter much for the broad market in the long term.
uncertain
it → urge → term
Prices for stocks depend more on where profits for companies and interest rates are heading than on who controls what in Washington.
asserted
who → depend → Washington
“Earnings trump elections,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
uncertain
Earnings → trump → Management
Still, Wall Street may have gotten a preferred political scenario as Democrats are set to take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
uncertain
Democrats → get → Representatives
Wall Street generally prefers split control of Washington because it lessens the risk of transformative changes to the economy.
asserted
it → prefer → economy
Much remains impossible to predict, of course, and Trump retains executive authority over key areas such as defence, foreign policy and in some instances trade.
asserted
Trump → remain → instances
A downbeat forecast could be that “Trump is not now a lame duck, but an angry duck” who might restart tensions over tariffs and NATO allies’ levels of military spending, said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING Bank.
uncertain
Brzeski → restart → Bank
An optimistic view, Brzeski said, is that Trump becomes “a tame duck ... that he will slow down any disruptive efforts and that he will put more focus on trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize by ending the two big wars without big disruption, and on trade, nothing happens but a few words.”
asserted
nothing → say → words
Since briefly touching a peak of $US175 five years ago, it’s dropped toward $US5.
asserted
it → touch → US5
Elon Musk’s businesses also struggled.
asserted
businesses → struggle → ?
Tesla fell 3.4 per cent, and SpaceX sank 3 per cent.
asserted
SpaceX → fall → ?
Musk, a former top Trump adviser, is among the possible targets for investigations by a Democratic-controlled Congress.
asserted
Musk → control → Congress
Trump has been a big backer of the AI industry, and Democratic victories across the country could mean more regulation or restrictions.
uncertain
victories → mean → regulation
Concerns have grown across political parties about AI in general.
asserted
Concerns → grow → AI
Investors see Democratic wins in Texas in particular as possibly slowing the build out of further AI data centers.
uncertain
Investors → see → centers
AI-related stocks came into Election Day already under pressure because of worries their prices had shot too high.
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prices → relate → worries
Nvidia, the chip company that quickly became the poster child of the frenzy around AI-related stocks, sank 1.3 per cent and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
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that → become → S&P
CoreWeave, a company that rents out access to AI chips to customers over the cloud, dropped 9.2 per cent
Advanced Micro Devices, another chip giant, held up better.
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Devices → rent → cloud
It added 1 per cent after reporting much stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
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analysts → add → quarter
Companies that have been spending heavily on AI chips also did better.
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that → spend → chips
Alphabet rose 4.2 per cent, for example, after it tumbled more than 12 per cent Thursday to its worst loss ever on worries that it was spending too much on AI investments.
asserted
it → rise → investments
A Democratic-led Congress could push Trump to pull back on the war with Iran.
uncertain
Congress → lead → Iran
That helped send down stocks of companies that make weapons and other equipment for the US military, including drops of 6.6 per cent for Lockheed Martin, 4.6 per cent for Northrop Grumman and 2.5 per cent for General Dynamics.
asserted
that → send → Dynamics
Democratic control of Congress could light the way for companies in the solar and wind industries.
uncertain
control → light → industries
First Solar jumped 9.4 per cent, and Enphase Energy climbed 9.8 per cent.
asserted
Energy → jump → ?
Stocks of big oil companies, meanwhile, sank.
asserted
Stocks → sink → companies
ExxonMobil fell 4.8 per cent, and ConocoPhillips dropped 5.9 per cent.
asserted
ConocoPhillips → fall → ?
They had been rallying for much of the year after Trump and Israel began the war with Iran, which sent crude prices much higher.
asserted
which → rally → prices
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, plunged 9.2 per cent Wednesday to $US94.11.
asserted
price → plunge → US94.11
The price for the most actively traded contract in the Brent market has been veering between roughly $US70 and $US120 per barrel since just before the war with Iran began.
asserted
war → trade → Iran
A Democratic-led Congress could try to reverse some of the cuts to federal healthcare and food assistance that Republicans approved during the summer in their “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
uncertain
Republicans → lead → Act
That helped stocks climb across the healthcare industry, including a rise of 9.8 per cent for HCA Healthcare, which runs hospitals and ambulatory sites.
asserted
which → help → hospitals
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
