The S&P 500 closed at 7,575.39, up 31.75 points or 0.42% on the day. Breadth was healthy on the surface, with 328 of the index's 488 members finishing in the green, but the index's concentration ratio came in at 111%, meaning the gain relied on more than the full index total from a narrow set of names even as the broader tape drifted higher alongside it.
Nvidia did the most work, adding 23.45 points on a 4.03% gain, with Meta close behind at 9.63 points on a 5.97% jump. AMD, Cisco and Applied Materials rounded out the top five, all modest single-digit point contributions. On the other side, Eli Lilly was the heaviest drag at negative 2.89 points on a 2.38% decline, followed by Amazon, Micron, Apple and Intel, none of which cost the index more than two points.
The Dow
The Dow closed at 52,637.00, up 149.59 points or 0.29%, a smaller percentage gain than the S&P 500 despite a bigger point print, and breadth was thinner here too at 18 of 30 members higher. The story diverges sharply from the S&P: Caterpillar was the single largest contributor at 83.33 points on a 1.49% move, more than Nvidia's 48.62 points in this index, with Home Depot and American Express also chipping in double digits.
IBM was the day's biggest drag anywhere in the three indices, costing the Dow 46 points on a 2.62% decline, with UnitedHealth close behind at negative 41.96 points. Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's and Alphabet filled out the rest of the losers, each under 13 points. Where the S&P's story was chips and Meta, the Dow's was industrial strength against a health care and technology-services drag.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,825.11, up 98.01 points or 0.33%, with breadth split roughly down the middle at 53 of 98 members higher. Concentration here ran at 233%, well above both the S&P and Dow, and the index's mode is flagged as divergence, meaning a small number of stocks pulled far harder than the group as a whole moved.
Nvidia's 144.8 points and Meta's 70.06 points together added 214.86 points to this index alone, dwarfing everything else on the board including AMD, Walmart and Cisco. The drag side tells a different story than the S&P or Dow: Space Exploration Technologies Corp was the single largest loser anywhere today, down 65.69 points on a 4.51% decline, with Alphabet's two share classes together subtracting 25.88 points and Amazon and Micron rounding out the bottom five.
The sectors
Across the eleven sectors, gains were broad but modest, with only Health Care finishing in the red. Materials, Consumer Staples and Communication Services led, while Financials and Technology brought up the rear among the winners.
Materials was the day's strongest sector, up 1.24%, with Linde as the top named driver contributing 0.06 points on a 0.8% gain, a modest move for a sector-leading name.
Health Care was the day's weakest, down 0.79%, with Eli Lilly again the biggest single drag at negative 0.69 points on its 2.38% decline, echoing the same stock's drag on the S&P 500 above.
None of today's index moves qualify as large by the site's threshold. The S&P 500's move sits at the 68th percentile of the past year, the Dow's at the 62nd, and the Nasdaq 100's at the 56th, all comfortably below the 85th-percentile bar for a notable session.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,575.39, up 31.75 points or 0.42%, with 328 of 488 members higher.
- The Dow closed at 52,637.00, up 149.59 points or 0.29%, with 18 of 30 members higher.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,825.11, up 98.01 points or 0.33%, with 53 of 98 members higher.
- Nvidia was the single largest contributor across all three indices, adding 23.45 points to the S&P 500, 48.62 to the Dow, and 144.8 to the Nasdaq 100.
- IBM was the biggest drag on the Dow, subtracting 46 points on a 2.62% decline.
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq 100, subtracting 65.69 points on a 4.51% decline.
- Materials was the day's strongest sector, up 1.24%, led by Linde.
- Health Care was the day's weakest sector, down 0.79%, dragged by Eli Lilly.
- The S&P 500's move ranks at the 68th percentile of the past year, below the threshold for a large session.
From Babylon Burns
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