Dow Jumps Nearly 3% at Midday as Apple, Microsoft Hit Records; FIS, Datadog, CVS Slide After Results

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied nearly 3% at midday Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, as investors bought consumer, financial and megacap technology shares the day after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. Apple and Microsoft hit record highs, while chipmakers, defense contractors and energy stocks lagged, and a batch of earnings reports produced some of the session's sharpest single-stock moves.

Where the indexes stood

As of about 12:09 p.m. ET, the Dow was up 1,518.96 points, or 2.93%, at 53,305.68, according to Yahoo Finance data. The S&P 500 had gained 134.73 points, or 1.78%, to 7,703.65, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 496.09 points, or 1.96%, at 25,868.10. On Tuesday, the Dow had fallen 197.26 points, dragged lower by Apple after the iPhone maker gave a weaker-than-expected margin outlook, Sharecast reported.

The move followed a volatile night in futures trading, which iShook Finance covered in its morning report. Early in the cash session, Reuters reported that eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were higher, led by consumer discretionary stocks, and that advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3.6 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Reuters said investors were betting that a divided Washington could limit sharp policy shifts, while concerns about tighter regulation of artificial intelligence weighed on data center stocks.

Megacaps up, chips and defense down

Apple rose 6.5% to about $353.55 and Microsoft gained 6.8% to about $556.63, both touching all-time highs, and Yahoo Finance reported that Apple's market value moved above $5 trillion. Amazon was up 6.7%. Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani told Yahoo Finance that Apple's earnings depend more on iPhone pricing and services than on data center construction, and that a slowdown in data center buildouts could ease the memory chip cost increases that have weighed on its margins.

Chip stocks moved the other way. Micron fell 5.6% and Nvidia slipped 1.6%. Reuters said data center operators IREN, Hut 8, Applied Digital and Core Scientific had fallen between 1.2% and 13% early in the session after Democrats made gains in states such as Texas and Georgia, where opposition to rapid data center expansion has been growing. Defense contractors also declined, with Lockheed Martin down 6.7% and Northrop Grumman down 4.6% at midday; Reuters said the administration's $1.5 trillion defense budget request could face a tougher road in Congress. Tesla fell 3.2%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR fund dropped 5.5% as crude oil prices fell sharply during the morning.

Earnings movers

Fidelity National Information Services fell 24.4% to about $29.49 after the payments technology company cut its full-year forecasts and said its chief financial officer is leaving. According to MarketWatch, FIS now expects 2026 adjusted earnings of $5.82 to $5.89 a share, down from $6.15 to $6.24, and revenue of $13.445 billion to $13.505 billion. CFO James Kehoe is stepping down this week, with Chief Accounting Officer Alexandra Brooks serving as interim finance chief. MarketWatch noted that a close near $30 would be the stock's lowest since February 2012.

Datadog dropped 14% despite beating forecasts. The company reported third-quarter revenue of $1.2 billion, up 35% from a year earlier, and adjusted earnings of $0.81 a share, compared with consensus estimates of $1.14 billion and $0.64, The Motley Fool reported. Its fourth-quarter revenue outlook of about $1.195 billion at the midpoint implies growth of roughly 25%.

CVS Health fell 12.7% after it announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies, one keeping the CVS Health name with Aetna and CVS Caremark and another, CVS Pharmacy, holding about 9,000 retail pharmacies, according to Yahoo Finance. Block, the parent of Cash App and Square, rose 16% after reporting better-than-expected results and raising its gross profit outlook, and McDonald's gained 5.3% after global same-store sales rose 1.5%, slightly ahead of estimates.

Jobs and services data

Economic data released Wednesday showed steady hiring and slower but continued growth in services. Private employers added 86,000 jobs in October, according to the ADP National Employment Report, matching September's figure, which was revised down from 90,000. CNBC reported that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected 75,000. Trade, transportation and utilities added 39,000 jobs, while professional and business services lost 27,000. Pay for workers who stayed in their jobs rose 3.0% from a year earlier, and pay for job changers rose 4.8%.

The Institute for Supply Management's Services PMI fell to 54.5 in October from 54.9, its 28th straight month above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction. The new orders index dropped to 55.9 from 59.8, the employment index rose to 51.4 from 50.1, and the prices index eased to 73 from 74. The backlog of orders index climbed to 58, its highest since July 2022.

The 10-year Treasury yield was about 4.90%, down from 4.95% on Tuesday. The government's October employment report is due Friday, ahead of the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting.

Sources: Reuters (via Business Standard), Sharecast, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, The Motley Fool, ADP Research, CNBC and the Institute for Supply Management, all Nov. 4, 2026; Yahoo Finance market data as of about 12:09 p.m. ET.