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September 1, 2026 · market close

Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar Sink the Dow While Apple Cushions a Broader Tech Slide

All three major indexes fell as megacap tech gave back ground, but Apple's strength and a narrow band of Dow decliners produced sharply different shapes across the S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq 100.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,631.47, down 54.67 points, or 0.71%, on the day. Breadth was negative but not extreme, with 158 of the index's 499 members finishing higher. Concentration came in at 36%, in the mixed range, meaning the index's loss was spread across a reasonably wide group of names rather than resting on a handful of stocks.

The S&P 500 through the session

The drag came almost entirely from megacap technology and consumer names. NVIDIA subtracted 9.02 points, Amazon.com 5.31, Microsoft 5.18, Tesla 3.79, and Micron Technology 3.22. On the other side, Apple was the single largest positive contributor in the index by a wide margin, adding 13.02 points on a 2.61% gain. Exxon Mobil, Meta Platforms, Johnson & Johnson, and Chevron rounded out the positive contributors, but none came close to offsetting the tech-led weight above them.

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

The Dow

The Dow closed at 52,767.00, down 418.9 points, or 0.79%, a slightly larger percentage decline than the S&P 500's. Breadth was much weaker here, with only 9 of 30 components finishing higher, and concentration ran to 73%, a narrow reading that puts most of the day's move on a short list of stocks.

The Dow through the session

Goldman Sachs was the largest single drag in the entire session across any index, taking 141.73 points off the Dow on a 2.32% decline. Caterpillar followed at 109.78 points on the same 2.32% move, then Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot, and Visa added further weight. Apple again showed up as a stabilizer, contributing 49.21 points to the Dow, with Amgen, UnitedHealth, Johnson & Johnson, and Chevron also positive. The Dow's story diverges from the S&P 500's in its shape: where the broader index spread its losses across dozens of tech and discretionary names, the Dow's decline concentrated in two industrial and financial names that do not carry the same weight in the S&P 500.

Dow attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Nasdaq 100

The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,077.22, down 379.75 points, or 1.29%, the steepest percentage loss of the three indexes. Breadth was the thinnest of the day, with just 19 of 101 members higher, though concentration at 40% is described as broad relative to the index's own history, meaning the decline still touched a wide swath of names even as the headline number was driven by a familiar cluster of megacaps.

The Nasdaq 100 through the session

NVIDIA led the drag with 66.5 points lost, followed by Alphabet at 43.75, Amazon.com at 43.22, Tesla at 38.7, and Microsoft at 38.46. Apple was again the standout on the other side, contributing 99.83 points to the Nasdaq 100, nearly four times the size of the next-largest positive contributor. Meta Platforms, Walmart, Amgen, and Gilead Sciences also added points but at a fraction of Apple's scale. The divergence from the S&P 500 here is one of degree: the same names drove the loss in both indexes, but the Nasdaq 100's higher weighting in NVIDIA, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, and Microsoft turned a 0.71% S&P 500 decline into a 1.29% move.

Nasdaq 100 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The sectors

Sector performance split along familiar lines, with defensive and energy-linked groups holding up and technology and discretionary names leading declines. Energy rose 1.30%, Utilities added 0.81%, Health Care gained 0.66%, and Consumer Staples rose 0.34%. On the other end, Technology fell 1.51% and Consumer Discretionary fell 1.73%, with Industrials and Materials also down more than a point.

The 11 sectors by move, top contributor named

Energy was the day's strongest sector, gaining 1.30%, with Exxon Mobil the top driver at a 2.24% gain contributing 0.28 points to the sector's move.

Energy: what moved it

Consumer Discretionary was the weakest sector, down 1.73%, with Tesla the top driver on a 3.22% decline that subtracted 0.64 points from the sector.

Consumer Discretionary: what moved it

Against the past year of trading, none of today's index moves stand out as large. The S&P 500's decline sits at the 14th percentile, the Dow's at the 13th percentile, and the Nasdaq 100's at the 13th percentile, all well below the 85th-percentile threshold for a large move.

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