NEW YORK, NY, Nov. 4, 2026 — Stocks surged Wednesday and oil prices tumbled as investors reacted to Democrats winning both chambers of Congress, betting that divided government will mean fewer big policy swings and more pressure to end the war with Iran.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,514 points, or 2.9%, late Wednesday morning, moving back above 53,000 for the first time since Sept. 8, CNBC reported in its live coverage. The S&P 500 was up 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.9%. U.S. crude oil and Brent futures, the global benchmark, were each down more than 8%.

Markets are open until 4 p.m. ET, so these numbers will change.

Why investors bought

Democrats will now act as a check on President Donald Trump's policies, CNBC reported. Trump told The New York Times he was "absolutely willing" to accept the results, and he told The Wall Street Journal that he and Republicans would work with Democrats.

The rebound "was in part due to the president's initial tone and reaction to the results," said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, according to CNBC. "Still more uncertainty looms, but one thing is certain, there will be gridlock and historically this is good for the market."

"The general view that this is a clearing event, so the uncertainty related to the elections is now behind us," said Scott Chornert, head of U.S. equity strategy at Citi Research, Reuters reported.

Why oil fell

Oil's slide deepened after Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republicans' losses, CNBC reported. In a post on X Wednesday morning, Vance wrote, "The reason we lost is the war."

"There's just going to be even more pressure to end the war," said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners, according to CNBC. "The American people have obviously expressed their displeasure with inflation and the price of gasoline, amongst other things, and maybe this just pushes for an end to it. We'll have to see."

Trump has also tied the losses to fuel costs. "I don't think it's the war, Bret, I think it's the gasoline price," he told Fox News anchor Bret Baier on election night, Fox News reported.

What it means at the pump in Florida

Florida's average price for regular gas was $3.836 a gallon Wednesday, down from $3.864 Tuesday and $4.009 a week ago, according to AAA's Florida gas price page. It was $2.940 a year ago. The national average was $4.124.

Winners and losers

Up:

  • Consumer and retail stocks. Shares tied to the broader economy led, CNBC reported, with Walmart up 2.5% as investors looked outside tech. A consumer staples fund, XLP, was up more than 2%.
  • Communication services. The XLC fund was up nearly 4%, on pace for its best day since April 2025, with Alphabet and Disney each up nearly 5%, CNBC reported.
  • Clean energy. Solar and clean energy companies rose on expectations that federal support would stay in place, and the Invesco Solar ETF climbed 8.3% in early trading, Reuters reported.
  • Big tech. Amazon jumped 7.1% early, Reuters reported.

Down:

  • Data centers and AI infrastructure. Investors worried a Democratic Congress could bring more limits on data centers, CNBC reported. Gina Hinojosa, who won the Texas governor's race, has pledged an immediate moratorium on new data centers in that state. CoreWeave dropped more than 7% and the Roundhill Neocloud ETF fell 6%, CNBC said.
  • Defense. Northrop Grumman, RTX and Lockheed Martin fell sharply, as Trump's $1.5 trillion budget request could face a tougher road in Congress, Reuters reported.
  • Musk's companies. SpaceX was down 5.5% and Tesla 5.1% late in the morning, Reuters reported. Musk spent nearly half a billion dollars backing Republican candidates, Reuters said.
  • Trump Media. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social and is 41% owned by Trump, were down 11% early, CNBC reported.

Gold, the dollar and bonds

Spot gold was up 2.93% at $4,043.45 an ounce and silver up 4.44% at $51.98 early Wednesday, CNBC reported as of 5:05 a.m. ET. The dollar index fell 0.39%, and Treasury yields moved lower, CNBC reported.

Jobs report

Private employers added 86,000 jobs in October, the ADP National Employment Report said Wednesday. That was slightly ahead of the 75,000 economists expected, CNBC reported. ADP said hiring showed solid growth for a second month, though professional and business services lost jobs for the third straight month.

What's next

Divided government begins when the new Congress is sworn in Jan. 3. Andrew Slimmon of Morgan Stanley Investment Management said the markets "like gridlock — they don't like a party with too much power," CNBC reported.

Final numbers for the day come after the 4 p.m. closing bell.

Sources: CNBC; Reuters (via Business Standard and Investing.com); AAA; ADP Research; JD Vance on X; Fox News.

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