US Midterm Blue Wave Reshapes Asian Markets While NextDC Surges 43% on Stake Deal and Duolingo Beats Estimates

The Democratic Party's decisive sweep of the US House and Senate in the November 4 midterm elections sent shockwaves through Asian markets on Thursday, triggering a sharp rotation trade that hammered chipmakers while lifting Chinese technology stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell more than 5%, pulling South Korea's Kospi benchmark down more than 3%, as investors worried that a Democratic-controlled Congress would curtail the AI infrastructure buildout that has powered demand for memory chips. SoftBank Group also dropped roughly 7% in Tokyo, where markets reopened after a holiday to price in the election result for the first time, with Kioxia falling more than 13% in the same session.

In contrast, Chinese technology stocks rallied sharply, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech index jumping more than 5% as investors bet that Democrats would take a less confrontational trade stance toward China. Tencent rose as part of that broad advance. SoftBank's slide reflected its heavy exposure to AI-linked assets and the broader concern about reduced US government support for large-scale AI spending under Democratic leadership.

In a separate development, NextDC shares surged as much as 43% in Sydney trading, their biggest single-day gain since 2010, after the Australian Financial Review reported that Goodman Group and US-listed Digital Realty Trust had each moved to acquire a 9.9% stake in the Australian data center operator. The two buyers purchased shares at A$9.50 apiece, a premium of roughly 45.5% to NextDC's Wednesday close. Goodman shares rose about 2% on the news. The deal underscored continued investor appetite for data center infrastructure even as the broader AI trade faced pressure in other markets.

Duolingo shares skyrocketed after the company reported third-quarter 2026 results that beat its own guidance across every key financial metric. Daily active user growth accelerated to 29% year over year, the second consecutive quarter of acceleration, while bookings rose 12% to $316.1 million, four percentage points faster than the prior quarter. Revenue grew 14% over the prior year, with subscription bookings up 16%, driven by strong free-user conversion. DBS Group Holdings shares fell after the Singapore bank reported its third-quarter results on November 5, though its earnings call was scheduled for the same morning.