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August 19, 2026 · market close

Merck and Amgen Carry the Dow While Broadcom Drags the Nasdaq 100 Lower

The S&P 500 edged up 16.22 points as pharma strength offset chip weakness, while the same chip names split the Dow and Nasdaq 100 into opposite directions.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,707.98, up 16.22 points, or 0.21%, on the day. Breadth was positive, with 285 of the index's 500 members finishing higher. Concentration ran at 292%, and the index was in divergence mode, with the equal-weight print at 0.91% against the cap-weighted gauge's smaller headline number.

The S&P 500 through the session

Apple added 23.13 points on a 2.19% gain, the single largest push higher. Amazon followed with 14.45 points on a 2.46% move, and Eli Lilly contributed 9.82 points as it rose 4.47%. Tesla added 9.11 points on a 4.23% gain, and Merck, up 12.62%, contributed 8.85 points. On the other side, Broadcom was the heaviest drag at negative 20.58 points on a 4.61% decline. Nvidia subtracted 12.62 points despite a modest 0.99% slip, AMD took off 7.2 points on a 3.71% decline, Lam Research fell 6.33% for a 6.56-point drag, and General Electric dropped 4.98% for a 4.86-point subtraction.

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

The Dow

The Dow closed at 53,463.00, up 119.6 points, or 0.22%, roughly in line with the S&P 500's percentage move. Breadth was positive but narrow, with 19 of 30 members higher, and concentration at 219% kept this in narrow mode rather than the divergence seen in the broader index.

The Dow through the session

Amgen led with 101.52 points on a 4.02% gain, and Merck was right behind it, adding 101.4 points on its 12.62% jump, the same move that lifted the S&P 500. Salesforce contributed 59.26 points on a 5.08% rise, Sherwin-Williams added 49.51 points on 2.41%, and Home Depot chipped in 41.01 points on a 2.04% gain. Caterpillar was the clear drag, subtracting 147.7 points on a 2.96% decline, its own weight in the price-weighted average doing more damage here than in the S&P 500. Goldman Sachs took off 111.8 points on a 1.81% drop, JPMorgan Chase fell 1.65% for a 35.6-point subtraction, Honeywell dropped 2.63% for 35.54 points, and Travelers slipped 1.54% for 33.7 points.

Dow attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Nasdaq 100

The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,426.02, down 64.94 points, or 0.22%, the only one of the three indices to finish lower. Breadth was negative, with just 55 of 100 members higher, and concentration was far heavier here at 483%, putting the index firmly in divergence mode with an equal-weight print of only 0.24%.

The Nasdaq 100 through the session

The names that lifted the S&P 500 and Dow were the same ones that cushioned this index's decline, and the names that dragged on the S&P 500 did far more damage here. Broadcom subtracted 140.43 points on its 4.61% decline, more than six times its S&P 500 weight would suggest. Nvidia took off 88.88 points despite a 0.99% dip, Space Exploration Technologies fell 2.57% for an 84.38-point drag, AMD's 3.71% decline cost 49.42 points, and Lam Research's 6.33% slide subtracted 43.74 points. Apple offset much of that, adding 167.19 points on 2.19%, Amazon added 116.12 points on 2.46%, Tesla contributed 94.82 points on 4.23%, Microsoft added 33.53 points on a modest 0.56% gain, and Marvell Technology jumped 9.85% for a 31.38-point add.

Nasdaq 100 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The sectors

Eleven sectors split roughly down the middle, with Health Care and Consumer Discretionary leading gains while Technology and Industrials lagged.

The 11 sectors by move, top contributor named

Health Care was the day's strongest sector, up 3.51%, or 5.95 points, with Eli Lilly the top driver, adding 1.37 points on its 4.47% gain.

Health Care: what moved it

Technology was the weakest, down 1.07%, or 1.99 points, with Broadcom again the top driver of the decline, subtracting 0.39 points on its 4.61% drop.

Technology: what moved it

Against the past year, today's S&P 500 move sits at the 56th percentile, the Dow's at the 59th, and the Nasdaq 100's at the 38th. None of these moves qualifies as large by that measure; the session was ordinary in scale even as chip names and pharma names pulled in opposite directions across the three benchmarks.

The numbers

From Babylon Burns

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