The S&P 500 closed at 7,543.64, up 60.93 points or 0.81% on the day. Breadth leaned positive, with 292 of the index's 490 members finishing higher, and the index's concentration reading came in at 34%, putting the session in the mixed category rather than a pure narrow-leadership day.
The lift came from a familiar group. Meta Platforms added 7.55 points on a 4.7% gain, Broadcom contributed 7.23 points, Micron added 5.87 points, AMD added 5.74 points and Apple added 5.23 points. Pulling the other way, Nvidia shed 4.15 points despite a modest 0.66% decline, Costco dropped 2.36 points on a sharp 4.21% fall, Exxon Mobil lost 2.03 points, and Alphabet's two share classes together subtracted 3.76 points, with the A shares down 2.27 and the C shares down 1.49.
The Dow
The Dow closed at 52,487.00, up 138.61 points or 0.26%, a modest gain by the index's own recent standards, sitting at the 61st percentile of moves over the past year. But the surface number hides a lopsided session: only 13 of the 30 members finished higher, and the index's concentration reading hit 183%, meaning the winners did far more than carry the day, they had to overcome a wall of decliners. Goldman Sachs alone added 156.5 points on a 2.56% gain, more than the entire net move of the index. American Express added 61.4 points, UnitedHealth 36.14, JPMorgan Chase 28.83 and Cisco 26.69. Against that, Caterpillar fell 57.59 points, IBM dropped 40.12, Amgen lost 25.97, Johnson & Johnson fell 25.56 and Salesforce dropped 24.25. This is where the Dow's story splits cleanly from the S&P's: financials driving a thin advance rather than the chip and megacap tech names that lifted the broader index.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,727.10, up 474.54 points or 1.62%, a large move that lands at the 92nd percentile of the past year. Breadth was 63 of 101 members higher, with concentration at 36%. The leadership list mirrors the S&P's but with more magnitude: Meta added 67.14 points, Broadcom 55.11, Space Exploration Technologies 47.13, Micron 45.12 and AMD 44.58. Space Exploration Technologies is notable here because it does not appear among the S&P's top contributors at all, a divergence unique to this index. On the other side, Alphabet's two classes again weighed heavily, down 34.24 and 27.91 points respectively, alongside Nvidia's 30.24-point drag, Costco's 16.61-point drop and Palantir's 7.11-point decline.
The sectors
Eight of eleven sectors finished higher on the day, led by a clear split between chip-and-communications strength and softer defensive and energy names.
Technology was the strongest sector, up 2.17% and adding 3.93 points, with AMD the top driver, contributing 0.47 points on its 5.67% gain.
Energy was the weakest sector, down 1.42% and shedding 0.79 points, with Exxon Mobil the top drag, subtracting 0.28 points on its 2.66% decline. Consumer Staples was close behind on the downside, off 1.39%, with Costco's 4.21% drop as its top driver.
The S&P 500's 0.81% gain lands at the 87th percentile of daily moves over the past year, a large session by this note's own threshold. The Nasdaq 100's 1.62% gain at the 92nd percentile was the larger of the two, while the Dow's 0.26% move, at the 61st percentile, was unremarkable next to the divergence underneath it.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,543.64, up 60.93 points or 0.81%, with 292 of 490 members higher.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,727.10, up 474.54 points or 1.62%, its 92nd-percentile day over the past year.
- The Dow closed at 52,487.00, up 138.61 points or 0.26%, even though only 13 of its 30 members finished higher.
- Goldman Sachs was the single largest driver in the market, adding 156.5 points to the Dow on a 2.56% gain.
- Costco was among the day's biggest drags, falling 4.21% and subtracting 2.36 points from the S&P 500 and 16.61 points from the Nasdaq 100.
- Alphabet's two share classes together subtracted 3.76 points from the S&P 500 and 62.15 points from the Nasdaq 100.
- Technology was the day's strongest sector, up 2.17%, led by AMD's 5.67% gain.
- Energy was the day's weakest sector, down 1.42%, dragged by Exxon Mobil's 2.66% decline.
- The S&P 500's move ranked in the 87th percentile of the past year, and the Nasdaq 100's ranked in the 92nd.
From Babylon Burns
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