Markets
Markets Today: Dow jumps 1,569 points and Bitcoin tops $80,000 after Democrats sweep Congress (November 4, 2026)
Dow jumps 1,569 points and Bitcoin tops $80,000 on November 4, 2026, as Democrats sweep Congress and oil plunges about 8%.
Wall Street staged a post-midterm rally on Wednesday: the Dow jumped 1,569 points for its best day since April 2025 after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, while Bitcoin shook off an overnight dip below $76,000 and climbed back above $80,000. Oil plunged about 8% on hopes for an easing of the war with Iran, dragging energy stocks lower even as most of the market surged. Stock closes as of 4 p.m. ET; crypto as of early evening ET, November 4, 2026. This is not financial advice.
Crypto snapshot
| Asset | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $80,156.15 | +3.64% over 24 hours |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,421.50 | +6.58% over 24 hours |
| Total crypto market cap | $2.69 trillion | +3.4% over 24 hours |
Bitcoin's path through the day was a V-shape: it fell just below $76,000 early Wednesday as midterm results pointed to Democratic wins, then recovered as election uncertainty faded, CoinDesk reported. By early evening it was up 3.64% at $80,156.15, with Ethereum up 6.58% at $2,421.50, according to The Motley Fool's crypto market report. The total market-cap figure comes from CoinTelegraph's evening report, citing CoinMarketCap data. The rally liquidated about $378 million in short positions in a single hour, per CoinGlass data reported by the Daily Argus.
Stock market snapshot
| Index | Close | Daily change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,688.62 | +1.58% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,736.51 | +1.44% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,356.12 | +3.03% |
The closing levels come from Investopedia's market-today report and match The Motley Fool's closing report. The Dow's 1,569-point gain was its fifth-largest one-day points increase ever, Investopedia noted, and its best day since April 9, 2025.
Today's winners and losers
Stocks
- Winners: Amazon closed up 6.12% at $266.03 and Microsoft rose 6.68% to $555.80, The Motley Fool reported, as investors reassessed cloud and AI spending after the election. Duolingo gained about 26% and Kyndryl about 30% on earnings, according to post-market data compiled by Tradestie.
- Losers: Nurix Therapeutics fell about 38% after Sanofi terminated a partnered development program, and Amdocs dropped about 30% on weak guidance tied to a dispute with T-Mobile, per Tradestie. In energy, ExxonMobil fell 4.6% and ConocoPhillips 5.2% as oil prices plunged, The Retest's closing brief reported, citing AP data.
Crypto
- Winners: In a midday snapshot of the 50 largest coins, Zcash led with an 8.2% gain, followed by Ethena at 5.4% and Morpho at 4.7%, according to CoinPulseHQ. Ethereum's 6.6% evening gain outpaced Bitcoin's, as the wider market recovered.
- Losers: Trump-linked tokens led the declines: Official Trump (TRUMP) fell 17% over 24 hours and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) dropped more than 7%, CoinTelegraph reported, citing CoinMarketCap data. In the midday top-50 snapshot, Mantle fell 2.8% and Bitcoin Cash 1.2%, per CoinPulseHQ.
What's driving the moves
- The midterm sweep — and gridlock. Democrats won majorities in both the House and Senate, and with a Republican president, investors read the result as divided government that makes sweeping spending or policy changes harder. Markets have often viewed that kind of gridlock favorably, Investopedia noted.
- Oil plunged on Iran hopes. Brent crude fell 8.7% to $94.62 a barrel and U.S. benchmark WTI fell nearly 8% to about $88.55, as traders bet a Democratic-led Congress could push for a pullback in the war with Iran. That hit oil producers hard and made energy the day's clear losing sector.
- Yields fell, helping rate-sensitive stocks. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.88% from 4.95% late Tuesday, per AP data in The Retest's brief, as lower oil prices eased inflation worries and investors saw less risk of Washington piling on more debt.
- Big Tech led on a data-center twist. Investors bet that potential curbs on new data-center construction could cement the grip of existing cloud giants while easing pressure on their strained cash flows, Reuters reported via SRN News, sending Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Apple sharply higher.
- Mixed economic data kept the Fed in focus. October's ISM services index slipped to 54.5 from 54.9 — still growing, just more slowly — while ADP reported 86,000 private-sector jobs added, above the 70,000 expected. Neither number changed the day's political story, but both feed into Friday's jobs report.
What investors are watching next
Thursday brings a Bank of England rate decision, weekly U.S. jobless claims and remarks from Federal Reserve speakers, and Friday brings the October jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET — a Reuters poll expects 65,000 jobs and 4.2% unemployment, The Retest noted. CME FedWatch showed an 82% chance of a Fed rate hike in December on Wednesday morning, per Reuters reporting cited there. In crypto, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen said Bitcoin looked oversold and could rebound toward $82,000, CoinDesk reported — his view, not ToolPilot's.
Bottom line: Wednesday was a relief rally with a twist — a clear election result plus plunging oil lifted almost everything except energy and a few earnings losers, and crypto joined in after a shaky overnight start. Whether the rally holds now depends less on politics and more on Friday's jobs data, the Fed's next signals, and whether oil stays down. Nothing here is a recommendation.