Nasdaq opens higher as chip stocks attempt to recover from brutal losses

The Nasdaq Composite opened higher on Friday after a sell-off hit artificial intelligence stocks and sent the exchange into correction territory during the prior trading session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.28%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 474 points, or 0.92% lower. The S&P 500 was up 0.38%.

Technology and chip stocks were among those hardest hit on Thursday as investors weighed what Democrats’ sweeping midterm election victories could mean for AI regulation and data center development.

The sell-off came just one day after stocks rallied following the midterm elections.

“The obvious catalyst for the sharp selloff is that markets are pricing in the midterm results, after yesterday saw markets rise across the board as the political risk premium unwound,” eToro market analyst Jakub Rochlitz said.

U.S. payrolls data released on Friday showed the economy added 165,000 jobs in October, blowing past economists’ estimate of a gain of 65,000. The unemployment rate ticked lower to 4.1%.

“The encouraging news is more industries are hiring again and more people are looking for work as they see opportunities growing,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “The Achilles Heel is that wages are still well below inflation, but wage growth came in stronger than expected in October.”