The S&P 500 closed at 7,656.98, up 65.28 points, or 0.86%, on the day. Breadth was strongly positive, with 332 of the index's 496 members finishing higher. The top five point contributors accounted for 30% of the index's move, a mixed reading that suggests the gain was neither a single-stock story nor evenly spread across every name.
Apple did the most work, adding 9.99 points on a 1.75% gain. Amazon followed with 5.7 points on a 1.94% move. Alphabet's two share classes, GOOGL and GOOG, contributed 4.13 and 2.86 points respectively, 6.99 points combined, with Microsoft close behind at 2.86 points. On the other side, Sandisk was the heaviest drag at negative 1.1 points on a 3.5% decline, followed by UnitedHealth at negative 1.04 points and Seagate Technology at negative 0.91 points as storage names sold off together.
The Dow
The Dow closed at 52,573.00, up 508.9 points, or 0.98%. This was a broad advance, with 24 of the 30 members higher and the top five contributors making up 38% of the total move. Caterpillar led with 80.65 points on a 1.69% gain, followed by Goldman Sachs at 55.93 points, IBM at 55.1 points on a 3.96% jump, Travelers at 45.41 points, and Alphabet at 35.07 points. That lineup is the clearest divergence from the S&P story: industrials and financials, not megacap technology, did the heaviest lifting here. UnitedHealth was the largest drag at negative 54.62 points on a 2.37% decline, with Amgen next at negative 30.43 points.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,368.44, up 264.93 points, or 0.91%, with 63 of its 98 members higher. Concentration ran hotter here at 45%, and the same megacap names that led the S&P dominated: Apple added 46.02 points, Alphabet's two classes contributed 39.92 and 34.24 points, Amazon added 29.18 points, and Space Exploration Technologies added 22.75 points on a 2.04% gain. The divergence from the S&P and Dow shows up on the downside. Sandisk, Seagate, Palo Alto Networks, and Western Digital were all among the index's five heaviest drags, negative 4.8, negative 4.07, negative 3.53, and negative 2.74 points respectively, making storage and security hardware the clear weak spot within an otherwise strong index.
The sectors
Nine of eleven sectors finished higher. Technology led at 1.34%, followed by Industrials at 1.06% and Communication Services at 0.99%. Consumer Discretionary added 0.86% and Real Estate rose 0.82%. Financials, Consumer Staples, Materials, and Energy all posted smaller gains. Health Care slipped 0.18% and Utilities fell 0.33% to close out the group.
Technology's advance ran on Apple, which contributed 0.43 points to the sector's move on its 1.75% gain, the single largest driver among the group's members.
Utilities was the day's weakest sector, and the pullback was thin: Southern Co, the sector's top driver, was itself down 0.02 points on a 0.68% decline, with the rest of the group offering little resistance.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow moved at the 88th percentile against the past year, a large session by that measure. The Nasdaq 100's 0.91% gain sat at the 78th percentile, a solid but more ordinary day relative to its own year of trading.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,656.98, up 65.28 points, or 0.86%, with 332 of 496 members higher.
- The Dow closed at 52,573.00, up 508.9 points, or 0.98%, with 24 of 30 members higher.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,368.44, up 264.93 points, or 0.91%, with 63 of 98 members higher.
- Apple was the S&P 500's biggest driver, adding 9.99 points on a 1.75% gain.
- Sandisk was the S&P 500's biggest drag, subtracting 1.1 points on a 3.5% decline.
- Caterpillar led the Dow with 80.65 points added on a 1.69% gain, while UnitedHealth was the biggest drag at negative 54.62 points.
- Technology was the day's strongest sector at 1.34%, and Utilities was the weakest at negative 0.33%.
- The S&P 500 and Dow both moved at the 88th percentile of the past year; the Nasdaq 100 moved at the 78th percentile.
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