Dhaka, Nov. 5 -- The Nasdaq 100 index was set to lose a whopping $1.8 trillion in stock value on Thursday as investors feared that the sweeping midterm victory of Democrats could stall the pace of AI infrastructure expansion.

The rout marked a dramatic slide from a relatively mild initial reaction in the previous session, when the index, stacked with elite tech companies, rose on hopes that an end to election-related uncertainty could improve overall sentiment.

"Wall Street badly needs a happy AI story right now," said Matthew Tuttle, founder and CEO of Tuttle Capital Management. "We now probably have two years of nothing. Divided government, angry politics, and very little getting passed."

Shares of semiconductor and neocloud companie...