Thursday, November 5, 2026 — the post-election rally is gone before lunch. Stocks are selling off hard at midday, led by a rout in semiconductors and AI hardware, while the VIX spikes and money hides in staples and energy. All 11 sectors are lower.
Market Snapshot — ~12:00 PM ET
- SPY (S&P 500): $745.48, -2.77% (as of 11:44 AM ET)
- QQQ (Nasdaq 100): $657.55, -4.97% (near noon)
- DIA (Dow): $521.91, -2.09% (as of 11:44 AM ET)
- IWM (Russell 2000): $274.11, -3.49% (near noon)
- VIX: 22.5, +35.4% (as of 11:45 AM ET) — CoinDesk reports it spiking toward 28, its highest since March
- 10-year Treasury yield: 4.85%, down 5 basis points (as of 11:45 AM ET)
- Breadth: only 8% of stocks and ETFs advancing (as of 11:38 AM ET)
The damage is concentrated in mega-cap tech, not the average stock: the equal-weight RSP was down only -1.74% at 11:07 AM ET, against -3.55% for SPY at the same time. Wednesday’s gains — the Dow +3.03%, the S&P 500 +1.58%, the Nasdaq Composite +1.44% after Democrats swept Congress — have been fully erased.
Sector Scan — Ranked by Intraday % Change
| Rank | Sector | ETF | Intraday % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consumer Staples | XLP | -0.30% |
| 2 | Energy | XLE | -0.50% |
| 3 | Communication Services | XLC | -0.61% |
| 4 | Utilities | XLU | -0.61% |
| 5 | Health Care | XLV | -1.14% |
| 6 | Real Estate | XLRE | -1.53% |
| 7 | Financials | XLF | -2.10% |
| 8 | Materials | XLB | -2.49% |
| 9 | Industrials | XLI | -2.86% |
| 10 | Consumer Discretionary | XLY | -3.89% |
| 11 | Technology | XLK | -6.19% |
Sector prices are Finnhub quotes from near noon ET. No sector is higher — the “leaders” are simply the ones falling least.
Rotation Read — Risk-Off, Defensive Hiding
This is a classic risk-off rotation, and a sharp reversal from the prior two sessions. On Wednesday, Consumer Discretionary (XLY, +4.26%) and Financials (XLF, +3.51%) led the post-election rally; today both are among the laggards. The money is hiding in the lowest-beta corners: staples, energy, communication services, utilities and health care are all down less than 1.2%, while Technology (-6.19%) and Consumer Discretionary (-3.89%) bring up the rear.
The epicenter is semiconductors and AI hardware. SMH is down -10.90%, with Micron (MU) -16.25%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) -16.55%, Nvidia (NVDA) -8.87% and Intel (INTC) -7.00% as of 11:07 AM ET. The triggers: soft Qualcomm (QCOM) and Arm (ARM) results, a memory squeeze that is now costing the handset chain, Micron pausing its $4.5B Taiwan plant over a labor dispute, and worries that a Texas data-center moratorium will continue. Tesla (TSLA) is down -9.48%, while Apple (AAPL) is the lone mega-cap gainer at +1.02%, acting as a defensive tech anchor.
Bonds are rallying with the risk-off move — the 10-year yield is at its lowest since early September — but the tape is not being bought: breadth is 8% and the VIX is up over 35%.
Top Stocks in the Leading Sectors
Consumer Staples (XLP, -0.30%)
- Costco (COST) — $1,066.81, +1.94%
- Coca-Cola (KO) — $96.16, +0.38%
- Procter & Gamble (PG) — $167.32, 0.00%
Energy (XLE, -0.50%)
- ConocoPhillips (COP) — $137.84, +0.66%
- Chevron (CVX) — $218.18, +0.56%
- EOG Resources (EOG) — $147.73, +0.46%
On a day when every sector is red, the “leaders” are the names still green: Costco is the standout, and the big integrated energy producers are holding small gains while refiners (Phillips 66 (PSX), -2.05%) lag.
Charts
VIX
SPY
QQQ
DIA
IWM
RSP
XLP
XLE
XLC
XLU
XLV
XLRE
XLF
XLB
XLI
XLY
XLK
SMH
MU
AMD
NVDA
INTC
QCOM
ARM
TSLA
AAPL
COST
KO
PG
COP
CVX
EOG
PSX
Sources
- Finnhub via browser search — intraday quotes for SPY proxies, QQQ, IWM, the 11 sector ETFs, COST, KO, PG, WMT, COP, CVX, EOG, XOM, PSX, VLO, MPC (near noon ET, Nov 5, 2026)
- StockSetups — SPY $745.48 (-2.77%), QQQ $661.96 (-4.32%), DIA $521.91 (-2.09%), updated Nov 5, 11:44 AM ET
- Pulsafi Market Pulse — VIX 22.5 (+35.4%), 10-year yield 4.85% (-5 bp), Nov 5, 11:45 AM ET
- InteractiveCrypto Market Today — stocks/ETFs breadth 8%, TSLA -9.48%, Nov 5, 11:38 AM ET
- Sell The News WSB Sentiment — SPY, QQQ, DIA, IWM, RSP, SMH, MU, SNDK, AMD, NVDA levels, Nov 5, 11:07 AM ET
- CoinDesk live markets — VIX surging toward 28, highest since March; 10-year yield 4.86%, Nov 5, 2026
- Canopy Atlas Market Sweep — Qualcomm, Arm, Micron results; Texas data-center moratorium; SMH -7.16% early, Nov 5, 2026
- Moomoo MarketTrack — AAPL +1.02% lone mega-cap gainer; MU, TSLA, PLTR, INTC, NVDA, MSFT moves, Nov 5, 2026
- My Passive Income / Lead-Lag — Wednesday Nov 4 closes: Dow +3.03%, S&P 500 +1.58%, Nasdaq +1.44%, VIX -20.26% to 16.61
- SquawkFlow Sector Rotation — Wednesday sector leaders: XLY +4.26%, XLF +3.51%; laggard XLE -4.74%