The S&P 500 closed at 7,482.71, down 21.14 points or 0.28% on the day. Breadth was thin under the surface: only 109 of the index's 497 members finished higher, and the equal-weight version of the index fell 1.1%, four times the decline of the headline number. That gap is the story of the session: a small group of large stocks did the heavy lifting to keep the loss looking modest.
Nvidia added 16.64 points and Broadcom added 8.01, the two largest positive contributions in the index, with Apple, Sandisk and Arista Networks rounding out the top gainers. On the other side, Microsoft subtracted 4.11 points, Alphabet's Class A shares subtracted 3.01, and Meta, Tesla and JPMorgan Chase each shaved off more than two points. The top five point contributors accounted for 47% of the day's activity, a reminder of how few names carried the index.
The Dow
The DJIA closed at 52,348.00, down 577.15 points or 1.09%, a far rougher day than the S&P's headline suggests. Only 6 of its 30 members advanced, and the equal-weight decline of 1.06% lined up almost exactly with the cap-weighted number, meaning this was a broad-based drop rather than a distortion from one or two stocks.
Goldman Sachs was the single biggest drag, taking 79.29 points off the average, with American Express close behind at 78.4 points and Sherwin-Williams at 69.48. Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase rounded out the top five decliners. Caterpillar was the best performer in points terms, adding 47.31, followed by Nvidia's 42.73, with Apple, Cisco and Chevron also finishing higher. Where the S&P leaned on a couple of chip names to stay near flat, the Dow simply did not have enough winners to offset its financial and industrial losses.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,252.56, up 79.54 points or 0.27%, a positive headline built on a genuinely split session. Just 38 of its 101 members rose, and the equal-weight version of the index fell 0.33%, the opposite direction of the cap-weighted print. That divergence is the clearest of the day.
Nvidia contributed 234.99 points and Broadcom added 115.08, with Apple, Sandisk and Applied Materials also positive. Working against them, Alphabet's two share classes together subtracted 163.95 points (GOOGL's 83.61 plus GOOG's 80.34), and Microsoft, Tesla and Meta each lost more than 40 points apiece. The index's concentration reading of 508% reflects just how much the handful of chip winners had to carry to overcome that megacap weakness.
The sectors
Only two of the eleven sectors closed higher. Energy and Technology advanced while the rest, led down by Materials, Financials and Consumer Discretionary, retreated.
Energy was the day's strongest group, up 1.74%, with Valero Energy the top driver, adding 0.15 points on a 6.25% gain.
Materials was the weakest sector, down 2.58%, with Linde the top drag, subtracting 0.14 points as it fell 1.96%.
Against the past year, none of these moves stand out as unusual. The S&P's decline sits in the 29th percentile of the past year's sessions, the Dow's drop lands in just the 7th percentile despite the 577-point headline, and the Nasdaq 100's gain is a middling 53rd percentile day. Nothing here crosses the threshold for a large move by that measure.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,482.71, down 21.14 points or 0.28%, with only 109 of 497 members higher.
- The Dow closed at 52,348.00, down 577.15 points or 1.09%, with just 6 of 30 members positive.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,252.56, up 79.54 points or 0.27%, even though only 38 of 101 members advanced.
- Nvidia was the single biggest positive driver in both the S&P 500 (16.64 points) and the Nasdaq 100 (234.99 points).
- Goldman Sachs was the Dow's biggest drag, subtracting 79.29 points on a 1.28% decline.
- Alphabet's Class A and Class C shares together subtracted 163.95 points from the Nasdaq 100.
- Energy was the day's strongest sector, up 1.74%, led by Valero Energy's 6.25% gain.
- Materials was the day's weakest sector, down 2.58%, led lower by Linde's 1.96% decline.
- The Dow's move ranked in just the 7th percentile of the past year's sessions despite its 577-point drop.
From Babylon Burns
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