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July 29, 2026 · market close

Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs Sink the Dow While Chipmakers Pull the Nasdaq 100 Down

A broad, red session sent all three major indexes lower, with industrial and chip names doing the most damage and Alphabet's two share classes among the only names adding points anywhere.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,316.15, down 112.63 points, or 1.52%, on the day. Breadth was negative, with only 184 of the index's 503 members finishing higher. Concentration came in at 32%, a mixed-mode session, and the equal-weight version of the index fell 0.88%, a smaller decline than the headline number, meaning the index's largest constituents fell harder than the median stock.

The S&P 500 through the session

Nvidia was the single largest drag on the index, subtracting 19.22 points as shares fell 3.55%. Micron followed, down 9.94% and costing the index 11.16 points, with Broadcom, AMD, and Amazon rounding out the top drags. On the other side, Alphabet's two share classes were among the very few names adding points: Class A contributed 1.91 points and Class C another 1.62, for 3.53 points together. Exxon Mobil added 1.65 points and Chevron 0.86, with Amphenol also in the green.

S&P 500 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Dow

The Dow closed at 51,594.00, down 1,153.32 points, or 2.19%, a sharper decline than the S&P's and the steepest of the three indexes today. Only 7 of its 30 members finished higher. Concentration reached 64%, a narrow session, and the equal-weight measure fell 1.33%, deeper than the headline move, a sign the pain was not confined to a handful of names.

The Dow through the session

Caterpillar did the most damage, down 6.91% and costing the average 345.56 points. Goldman Sachs was close behind, down 5.09% for a 312.57-point subtraction. JPMorgan Chase, Sherwin-Williams, and UnitedHealth also weighed. Salesforce was the lone bright spot of size, adding 40.89 points on a 3.79% gain, with Chevron, Alphabet, Visa, and Walmart also positive. Where the S&P's drag was concentrated in chipmakers, the Dow's came from an industrial and a bank, a different story from the same day.

Dow attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Nasdaq 100

The Nasdaq 100 closed at 27,192.31, down 570.82 points, or 2.06%, with only 38 of 103 members higher. Concentration was 47%, a mixed session, and the equal-weight figure fell 1.21%.

The Nasdaq 100 through the session

The chip names that dragged the S&P did far more damage here: Nvidia alone cost the index 144.15 points, Micron another 78.36, SpaceX 43.00, Broadcom 42.87, and Amazon 38.54. Alphabet's two classes were again the standout offset, this time adding 32.89 and 31.22 points, or 64.11 points together, alongside smaller gains from Walmart, Adobe, and Intuit. The Nasdaq's decline was effectively a magnified version of the S&P's chip story, with less of the diversification that softened the blow elsewhere.

Nasdaq 100 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The sectors

All but two of the eleven sectors finished lower. Energy and Consumer Staples were the only groups in the green, up 1.86% and 0.31%. Communication Services and Real Estate were roughly flat, down 0.12% and 0.13%. From there the declines steepened: Health Care off 0.6%, Consumer Discretionary off 0.81%, Materials off 1.15%, Utilities off 1.36%, Financials off 1.6%, Technology off 2.67%, and Industrials off 3.22%.

The 11 sectors by move, top contributor named

Energy was the day's strongest sector, up 1.86%, led by Exxon Mobil's 0.29-point contribution on a 2.44% gain.

Energy: what moved it

Industrials was the weakest, down 3.22%, with Caterpillar again the main driver, subtracting 0.86 points on a 6.08%... on a 6.91% decline in the stock.

Industrials: what moved it

Set against the past year, today's S&P 500 move ranks in the 4th percentile of daily sessions, the Dow's in the 1st percentile, and the Nasdaq 100's in the 3rd percentile, placing all three among the rarer, sharper down days of the period.

The numbers

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Compiled by the WMTMT attribution engine from the session's official data · built by the founders of Babylon Burns