Key facts
- The S&P 500 needed to fall another 3.2 percentage points from its decline to reach the first circuit breaker, per the report.
- At around 11 a.m. ET the Nasdaq Composite was down nearly 5% and the S&P 500 was down 3.2%.
- Nvidia lost more than 6% and the broader semiconductor index fell nearly 11%.
- Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote Bank told Reuters she suspects scrutiny of the aggressive AI buildout.
- The S&P 500 had not reached its first market-wide circuit breaker at the time of the report.
The S&P 500 fell as much as 3.8% on Thursday, November 5, 2026, leaving the index about 3.2 percentage points short of the 7% decline that would trigger the first market-wide circuit breaker, according to a Decrypt report that described the session as still in progress.
The first threshold corresponds to an S&P 500 level of 7,150.41 points. Reaching it before 3:25 p.m. ET would halt trading across US equity markets for 15 minutes. A 13% decline, or 6,689.09 points, would trigger a second 15-minute suspension, and a 20% fall, or 6,150.89 points, would close trading for the rest of the day. Under New York Stock Exchange rules, the first two thresholds stop applying at 3:25 p.m. ET, while the 20% level stays active all session. The rules cover the whole US equity market, not only S&P 500 constituents.
At around 11 a.m. ET the Nasdaq Composite had fallen nearly 5% and the S&P 500 was down 3.2%. Nvidia lost more than 6% and the broader semiconductor index fell nearly 11%. Companies building AI infrastructure also declined as investors weighed the possibility of stricter oversight of data-center construction after Democratic midterm election victories.
"We suspect there is going to be some scrutiny on this aggressive AI buildout," Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, told Reuters.
The losses followed a rally on Wednesday, when the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, its strongest daily performance in three months, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 1,500 points, after the Democratic Party's midterm election victories. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Wednesday that "Stock Market just hit another Record High" and that Americans' 401(k)s were "through the roof."
The report also said Bitcoin fell below $76,000 and that approximately $428 million in leveraged crypto long positions were liquidated within an hour, as Decrypt reported.