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Dow surges 1,569 points as Democrats sweep Congress · Global Advisors Daily Business News

• 0:10
  Welcome to Global Advisors Daily Business News. I'm Sam. Today is Thursday, the fifth of November 2026. Let's explore today's business headlines and what they mean for leaders. Please hit like and subscribe for daily updates if you find this useful.
• 0:29
  Global stocks rallied on Wednesday as Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress, providing greater political clarity and reducing market uncertainty. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.05 percent, while the S and P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also posted gains. Investors expect gridlock in Washington to cut government spending, with A.I regulation possibly slowing growth and reducing the need for rate hikes.
• 0:54
  Scope Ratings stated that the Democratic sweep and the rebalancing of power between the White House and Congress was credit positive, supporting the United States's AA-rating. However, the agency expects the direction of fiscal policy to remain broadly unchanged, with headline deficits of around 7 percent of G D P.
• 1:17
  Wall Street delivered a historic response to the midterm election results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 1,569 points. This three percent jump marks the index's best single day since April of last year. According to reporting by John Towfighi and Matt Egan for CNN Business, this was not just a strong day, but the biggest post-midterm election gain for the Dow since 1982.
• 1:39
  The broader market followed suit, with the S and P 500 and the Nasdaq also posting significant gains as investors reacted to the Democratic sweep of Congress.
• 1:49
  Yet, this broad relief rally masked a sharp divergence in specific sectors. While traditional blue-chip stocks soared, the technology infrastructure space faced a steep decline. Data center operators and neocloud companies, including CoreWeave, plunged on the news. Investors appear to be pricing in the risk that a Democratic-controlled Congress could become a regulatory obstacle to the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.
• 2:13
  This split reaction highlights how different parts of the market are interpreting the same political outcome, with some seeing stability and others seeing potential headwinds for the A.I buildout.
• 2:28
  Markets reacted sharply to the news that Democrats have taken control of Congress, with precious metals leading the charge. Front-month gold futures rose 3.4 percent, while silver futures climbed 5.1 percent. At the same time, the United States dollar index slipped by about 0.3 percent, as stocks surged and Treasury yields moved lower.
• 2:48
  Analysts are now weighing the potential economic consequences of this unified control. Gokhshtein Media suggests that this political shift points toward increased federal spending on infrastructure, social programs, and green initiatives. They argue that such spending could weaken the dollar over time and elevate inflation concerns, which often drives investors toward hard assets like gold.
• 3:09
  However, the picture is not entirely one-sided. Rhona O'Connell offers a more nuanced view, noting that less fiscal stimulus might actually argue for lower long-term yields and a softer dollar. Yet, she cautions that this effect could be offset by debt-limit premia in bills and a Federal Reserve that is still leaning towards another interest rate hike. The market is thus caught between the promise of spending and the reality of monetary policy.
• 3:37
  CVS Health is planning a major structural change, intending to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies. This move marks a significant shift for the healthcare giant, which has spent years combining pharmacies, insurance, and pharmacy benefit management under one roof. The split is scheduled for the first half of 2028, effectively dividing the current conglomerate into distinct entities.
• 3:59
  One of the new companies will be named CVS Pharmacy. This entity will comprise approximately nine thousand CVS pharmacies, along with mail pharmacy services, MinuteClinic, and the Health100 technology services business. The other side of the split will retain the insurer Aetna and the pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, separating these financial and administrative arms from the retail and clinical operations.
• 4:22
  The rationale behind this breakup centers on clarity for the market. Analysts suggest that the split may make it easier for investors to recognize the value of each unit on its own, rather than trying to assess one sprawling healthcare conglomerate.
• 4:36
  By separating the retail pharmacy business from the insurance and benefit management operations, CVS aims to allow each company to pursue its own strategic priorities and be valued more accurately by shareholders.
• 4:54
  Canva is restructuring its operations, a move that will affect twenty-two percent of its workforce through role changes, relocations, and job losses. This decision comes as the design platform faces its first decade-long slowdown in growth. According to the company, revenue growth for twenty twenty-six is now forecast at twenty percent, down from an earlier projection of thirty percent.
• 5:15
  A key factor driving this shift is intensifying competition from artificial intelligence tools, specifically image-generating models from OpenAI and Google. To adapt, Canva is merging its Product, Growth, and Platform teams into a single Product Org. The company says this consolidation aims to provide clearer ownership and greater autonomy, allowing it to respond more nimbly to the changing market landscape.
• 5:43
  Oil markets saw a sharp downturn this week as geopolitical expectations shifted. According to Reuters, Brent crude prices fell by nine percent as investors weighed the changing landscape of the Iran conflict. The primary catalyst was the outcome of the United States midterm elections.
• 5:59
  A defeat for President Trump's party has sparked renewed hope among traders that a path toward peace might be more accessible, thereby reducing the risk premium that had been inflating energy costs.
• 6:10
  This political development has altered how the market interprets supply risks. While the price drop suggests optimism about a potential deal, the physical reality of oil flows remains tight. Reuters reports that exports from the Gulf region, including crude, condensate, and refined products, averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October. This represents a notable decline from September levels.
• 6:33
  The contrast between falling prices and reduced export volumes highlights the complex dynamics at play, where political sentiment is currently outweighing immediate supply constraints in the eyes of traders.
• 6:49
  Ohio voters have sent a stark warning to the tech industry, rejecting the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure through a series of local ballot measures. During Tuesday's vote, at least 14 municipalities passed bans or other restrictions on data centers. This grassroots resistance is particularly striking given the state's central role in the sector, where companies have planned massive investments in A.I infrastructure.
• 7:13
  The public sentiment behind these votes is backed by polling data. A survey of Ohio adults, conducted by ICAPP in partnership with SurveyUSA, found that 55 percent opposed data center construction. The opposition was even stronger regarding financial incentives, with a majority of respondents opposing tax breaks for such developments.
• 7:32
  This suggests that while the economic promise of A.I is significant, local communities are increasingly wary of the environmental and social costs associated with large-scale infrastructure.
• 7:43
  The resistance may soon move from local ordinances to state law. The same poll indicated that 57 percent of Ohio adults would vote in favor of a proposed state constitutional amendment banning new large-scale data centers with high power demands. If enacted, this measure would fundamentally reshape how tech companies approach expansion in the region, forcing a reevaluation of how A.I growth aligns with community values and energy constraints.
• 8:13
  Google is walking back a policy that threatened to remove Search access if schools rejected its artificial intelligence tools. The company had previously announced it would not offer an option to disable A.I Overviews, stating that schools would have to block search entirely to remove the feature. This decision to force A.I Overviews on schools was met with backlash from educators, parents, and technology researchers.
• 8:35
  In response, Google contends that schools will have more choice because search, the Gemini chatbot, and Gemini Notebook will be off by default starting next year. This shift suggests that while Google remains committed to integrating A.I into its ecosystem, it is willing to adjust its approach to accommodate institutional concerns about mandatory adoption.
• 9:00
  Google is committing fifteen billion dollars to expand its data center presence in Malaysia. This investment will take place over two years, specifically in twenty twenty-seven and twenty twenty-eight. The company plans to build new campuses in the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. This move signals a significant deepening of Google's infrastructure footprint in Southeast Asia.
• 9:20
  Beyond construction, Google has outlined specific operational commitments. The company will cover all of its data center power costs and the direct infrastructure needed to connect to the grid. They are also targeting a high power usage effectiveness metric, indicating how efficiently the facilities use energy for computing versus cooling and other overheads.
• 9:40
  Google projects this expansion will contribute an annual average of one point one billion dollars to Malaysia's G D P during the construction phase. The company estimates this will create tens of thousands of local construction jobs each year. Once operational, the sites are expected to provide thousands of permanent jobs. These figures highlight the economic scale of the project for the local workforce.
• 10:02
  To support the digital ecosystem, Google will also fund four new upskilling programs. These initiatives aim to train eight hundred thousand Malaysians over a five-year period. This combination of infrastructure investment and workforce development suggests a long-term strategy to anchor Google's operations in the region while building local technical capacity.
• 10:26
  In Tehran, the mood following the recent United States midterm elections was one of triumph. Iranian media outlets seized on the results as a decisive rejection of American foreign policy. The conservative newspaper Jam-e Jam ran a headline declaring the outcome to be the twilight of Trumpism.
• 10:44
  Meanwhile, the paper Hamshahri claimed that Washington had been a captive of Iran for forty-seven years, pointing to the 2026 congressional vote as the turning point that finally broke that hold.
• 10:55
  This celebration is rooted in the political reality that the war in Iran has been deeply unpopular among Americans since it began. Democratic candidates made the conflict a central issue in their campaign, arguing that it was driving up costs for ordinary households.
• 11:10
  Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf stated that Americans said no to war and endorsed this message, warning that the United States government should not ignore public opinion by attacking his country again.
• 11:23
  That's it from me, Sam. Thanks for listening. Follow the show on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or your favourite podcast platform, and join our WhatsApp channel for free updates. Until next time.