The S&P 500 closed at 7,757.64, up 47.68 points, or 0.62%, on the day. Breadth was solidly positive, with 321 of the index's 503 members finishing higher. Concentration sat near the middle of its typical range at 49%, a mixed session where gains were neither broadly shared nor narrowly bunched.
Nvidia did the heaviest lifting, adding 14.84 points on a 2.27% gain. Broadcom and Palantir each contributed 4.22 points, though the paths looked different: Broadcom moved 1.71% on its sheer size, Palantir jumped 10.32%. Tesla added 3.12 points on a 2.83% gain and Amazon 2.72 points on a smaller 0.82% move. On the other side, Alphabet's two share classes together subtracted 4.47 points, with Class A down 0.96% and Class C down 0.88%. Visa lost 1.72 points on a 2.18% decline, Mastercard 1.39 points on a 2.32% drop, and AMD 1.23 points on a 1.21% pullback.
The Dow
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 54,037.00, up 151.9 points, or 0.28%, a smaller gain than the S&P 500's and one built on a narrower base. Concentration ran to 74%, with 20 of the 30 members higher.
Goldman Sachs led with 38.63 points on a 0.63% gain, followed closely by Sherwin-Williams at 37.39 points on 1.73%, Amgen at 36.23 points on 1.51%, Home Depot at 35.96 points on 1.73%, and Salesforce at 35.22 points on 3.17%. Caterpillar erased much of that work, dropping 87.28 points on a 1.71% decline, by far the largest single move in either direction across the Dow today. Visa's 47.91-point loss compounded it, and Alphabet, Chevron and McDonald's rounded out the drag. Caterpillar's weight in the price-weighted Dow explains why the index lagged the S&P 500 even with a majority of members higher; nothing near that scale appeared in the S&P 500's own bottom five.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,722.30, up 348.97 points, or 1.19%, the strongest showing of the three indexes today. Breadth was positive but not overwhelming, with 75 of 102 members up, and concentration ran to 70%.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was the story, adding 147.13 points on a 15.83% jump, well ahead of any other name in the index. Nvidia added 73.8 points on its 2.27% gain, Palantir 23.72 points on 10.32%, Tesla 21.93 points on 2.83%, and Broadcom 21.00 points on 1.71%. The drag again came from Alphabet, whose two classes together took away 49.53 points, alongside smaller losses in AMD, Seagate and Sandisk. The divergence from the S&P 500 and Dow is plain: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. does not sit in either of those indexes, so its move and 147.13-point contribution show up only here, making it the largest single driver across all three indexes today.
The sectors
Sector performance skewed positive, with eight of eleven sectors closing higher. Consumer Discretionary and Technology led the way, both up more than 1.4%, while Materials added 1.32%. Health Care, Utilities, Real Estate and Industrials posted smaller gains, and Communication Services and Consumer Staples were essentially flat. Financials slipped 0.33% and Energy fell 1.17%, the only sector to close down more than a point.
Consumer Discretionary was the day's strongest sector, up 1.46%. Tesla led the group, adding 0.52 points on its 2.83% gain, consistent with the stock's place atop both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contributor lists.
Energy was the weakest sector, down 1.17%. Exxon Mobil led it lower, subtracting 0.14 points on a 1.22% decline, one of the few cases today where the top-named driver in a sector pulled in the negative direction rather than cushioning a loss.
Today's S&P 500 move sits at the 77th percentile of sessions over the past year, a solid but not large gain by the site's threshold of the 85th percentile. The Nasdaq 100's 1.19% advance ranks at the 84th percentile, just short of that bar, while the Dow's 0.28% gain sits at the 60th percentile, the mildest of the three.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,757.64, up 47.68 points, or 0.62%, with 321 of 503 members higher.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 54,037.00, up 151.9 points, or 0.28%, with 20 of 30 members higher.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,722.30, up 348.97 points, or 1.19%, with 75 of 102 members higher.
- Nvidia was the S&P 500's biggest driver, adding 14.84 points on a 2.27% gain.
- Alphabet's Class A shares were the S&P 500's biggest drag, subtracting 2.58 points on a 0.96% decline.
- Caterpillar was the Dow's biggest drag, subtracting 87.28 points on a 1.71% decline.
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was the Nasdaq 100's biggest driver, adding 147.13 points on a 15.83% jump.
- Consumer Discretionary was the day's strongest sector, up 1.46%, while Energy was the weakest, down 1.17%.
- The S&P 500's move ranks at the 77th percentile of the past year, and the Nasdaq 100's at the 84th percentile.
From Babylon Burns
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