The S&P 500 closed at 7,503.85, down 33.58 points or 0.45% on the day. Breadth told a different story than the headline number: 285 of the index's 503 members finished higher, a clear majority, while the index itself fell. That gap is the day's mechanical story, concentration among a handful of decliners outweighed a broad, mild advance elsewhere.
The drag came almost entirely from semiconductors and one electric-vehicle name. Advanced Micro Devices took off 6.29 points on a 6.51% decline, Intel shed 6.20 points on a 9.66% drop, Micron took off 5.51 points, Tesla cost the index 4.96 points on a 4.02% fall, and Applied Materials subtracted 3.26 points. On the other side, Nvidia added 3.33 points despite the chip selloff around it, Meta Platforms contributed 3.29 points on a 2.55% gain, Eli Lilly added 2.74 points, ExxonMobil added 2.10 points, and Johnson & Johnson added 1.85 points.
The Dow
The Dow closed at 52,925.15, down 130.76 points or 0.25%. Eighteen of its 30 members rose on the day, another majority-up, index-down session, and the arithmetic behind it is stark: concentration in the Dow's points contribution ran to 223%, meaning one stock's decline accounted for more than the entire index move. Caterpillar did that work by itself, off 177.12 points on a 3.07% decline. Goldman Sachs subtracted another 73.17 points, Sherwin-Williams 40.83, American Express 38.34, and Honeywell 36.43. Equal-weighted, the Dow's 30 stocks actually gained 0.22% on the day, underscoring how much a single industrial name bent the price-weighted index. UnitedHealth added 60.62 points on a 2.44% gain, Johnson & Johnson added 47.01, IBM added 39.29, Chevron added 35.13, and Travelers added 27.10.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,173.02, down 524.85 points or 1.77%, the sharpest of the day's three headline moves. Breadth here matched the price action for once, with only 48 of 103 members higher. Space Exploration Technologies Corp led the decline, off 133.00 points on a 6.83% drop, followed by Tesla down 58.79 points, Intel down 55.07, Advanced Micro Devices down 54.37, and Micron down 48.59. The equal-weighted Nasdaq 100 fell 1.20%, so unlike the S&P and the Dow, this index's decline was not purely a concentration story, the broader basket of names was down too. Meta Platforms was the standout gainer, adding 36.01 points, with Nvidia adding 30.99, Amazon adding 18.16, Microsoft adding 14.47, and Gilead Sciences adding 7.78 on a 5.21% move.
The sectors
The eleven sectors split cleanly along the day's chip-and-industrial fault line. Energy led at 2.84%, followed by Health Care at 1.53%, Real Estate at 1.35%, Consumer Staples at 0.90%, and Utilities at 0.88%. Financials were roughly flat at negative 0.16%, and the rest of the board leaned lower, with Materials off 0.90%, Industrials off 1.71%, and Technology at the bottom, off 2.39%.
Energy's gain of 1.51 points was carried by ExxonMobil, up 3.85% and contributing 0.41 points to the sector's move, a familiar pattern for the group on days when the broader tape is soft.
Technology's loss of 4.39 points had a clear source: Intel fell 9.66% and subtracted 0.71 points from the sector, the single largest driver on either side of today's sector board.
None of today's index moves were large by the payload's own standard. The S&P 500's decline sits at the 20th percentile of the past year's moves, the Dow's at the 31st percentile, and the Nasdaq 100's steeper 1.77% drop at just the 7th percentile. All three fall well short of the 85th-percentile bar this note uses for calling a move large.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,503.85, down 33.58 points or 0.45%, with 285 of 503 members higher.
- The Dow closed at 52,925.15, down 130.76 points or 0.25%, even as 18 of its 30 members gained ground.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,173.02, down 524.85 points or 1.77%, with only 48 of 103 members higher.
- Caterpillar alone subtracted 177.12 points from the Dow, more than the index's entire 130.76-point decline, a concentration reading of 223%.
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp was the single largest drag in the Nasdaq 100, off 133.00 points on a 6.83% decline.
- Advanced Micro Devices was the S&P 500's biggest drag, down 6.51% and costing the index 6.29 points.
- Energy was the day's strongest sector at 2.84%, led by ExxonMobil's 3.85% gain.
- Technology was the day's weakest sector at negative 2.39%, led lower by Intel's 9.66% decline.
- The S&P 500's move ranks at the 20th percentile of the past year, the Dow's at the 31st, and the Nasdaq 100's at the 7th, none qualifying as a large move.
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