A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. equity futures rose on Wednesday evening following a rally on the heels of a sharp decline in the price of oil and certainty around the Democrats’ midterm wins.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.1%, and Nasdaq-100 futures advanced 0.1%.ย
After the bell on Wednesday, chipmaker Qualcomm reported earnings that beat estimates, but fell 6.5%. AppLovin, the artificial intelligence-powered advertising company, surged almost 24% after delivering better-than-expected results and issuing guidance that beat estimates.
Stocks on Wednesday rallied as oil prices dipped, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures falling more than 8% to settle at $88.12 a barrel. The Dow gained more than 1,500 points, or 3%, to post its best day since April 2025, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.6%.
Those moves came after Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republican losses in the midterms on Tuesday.ย
Trading on Wednesday showed investors adjusting to Tuesday’s results, which showed Democrats flipping control of the House of Representatives and Senate โ securing comfortable majorities in both chambers โ and a slew of governorships, too.ย
Consumer discretionary names such as Walmart helped lead the way higher on Wednesday, with the retail giant up more than 3% in the regular session. At the same time, names linked to the data center build-out, like CoreWeave, fell on worries about a backlash to the industry in light of election results in various states. In Texas, for instance, Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the election for governor after calling for tougher restrictions on data center development.
But Jordan Watson, a portfolio manager at Tandem Investment Advisors, said the big rally and the rotation away from artificial intelligence names could be temporary.ย
“We may be headed for more volatility as investors digest the election results and potential policy implications,” he said. “I wouldn’t view [Wednesday’s equity trading] as an all-clear signal, but rather a call for some sanity around the amount of capital being poured into the AI infrastructure build-out and whether those investments will generate the returns investors expect.”
Going into Thursday, traders will be watching for weekly jobless claims data. October’s nonfarm payrolls report is due on Friday.
On the earnings front, Tapestry, Kimberly-Clark and ConocoPhillips are expected to report in the morning, followed by Airbnb and Akamai in the afternoon.
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