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September 16, 2026 · market close

Goldman Sachs Drags the Dow Lower While Chip Strength Keeps the Nasdaq 100 Flat

The S&P 500 slipped on broad but shallow selling, the Dow took a sharp hit from a single bank stock, and the Nasdaq 100 held almost dead flat as chipmakers offset megacap tech weakness.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,551.81, down 33.92 points, or 0.45%, on the day. Breadth was negative, with just 161 of the index's 498 members finishing higher, and concentration came in at a mixed 34%, meaning the decline was spread across names rather than driven by a handful of them.

The S&P 500 through the session

Microsoft did the most damage, shaving 5.88 points off the index as it fell 1.37%. Exxon Mobil cost 2.95 points on a 3.54% decline, Amazon subtracted 2.78 points on a 0.99% slide, and Alphabet's Class A shares took off 1.43 points as they slipped 0.61%. Chevron rounded out the top drags with 1.37 points on a 2.86% drop. On the other side, Nvidia added 4.76 points on a 0.82% gain, Intel contributed 2.13 points after rising 4.03%, and Apple, AMD and GE Vernova each added smaller offsetting gains.

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

The Dow

The Dow closed at 51,462.00, down 631.11 points, or 1.21%, a far sharper decline than the S&P 500 saw. Breadth was narrow, with only 9 of the Dow's 30 members finishing higher, and concentration reached 58%, putting the session squarely in narrow territory rather than the S&P's broader pattern.

The Dow through the session

Goldman Sachs did most of the work, subtracting 229.96 points on a 3.96% drop, more than a third of the index's total point loss. American Express cost 71.32 points as it fell 3.7%, IBM subtracted 64.67 points on a 4.38% slide, and Boeing gave back 45.94 points on a 3.69% decline. Microsoft, which also weighed on the S&P 500, cost the Dow 40.54 points here as well. Honeywell was the lone standout of size, adding 25.08 points on a 2.07% gain, with Nvidia, Merck, Apple and Travelers contributing smaller offsets.

Dow attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Nasdaq 100

The Nasdaq 100 closed at 28,945.06, up 7.22 points, or 0.02%, essentially flat and the clearest split from the Dow and S&P 500 story. Breadth was mixed, with 49 of the index's 100 members finishing higher.

The Nasdaq 100 through the session

Space Exploration Technologies led all contributors, adding 13.16 points on a 5.15% jump. Nvidia added 5.47 points, Intel 2.71 points, Apple 2.05 points and AMD 1.78 points, the same chip and hardware names that softened the Dow's losses showing up here as gains instead. Working against them, Microsoft cost the index 6.64 points and Amazon subtracted 3.48 points. Alphabet's two share classes together subtracted 6.71 points, with the Class A shares down 3.39 points and the Class C shares down 3.32 points. Cisco added a smaller 1.21-point drag on a 2.12% decline.

Nasdaq 100 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The sectors

Across the 11 sectors, ten finished lower and only Technology managed a gain, edging up 0.12% as chip strength offset software weakness. Energy was the session's clear laggard, dropping 2.82% as Exxon Mobil and Chevron both fell sharply. Financials followed close behind, down 1.60% on Goldman Sachs' slide, while Communication Services fell 0.91% behind AT&T's 3.14% decline. Utilities were the only sector to hold flat on the day.

The 11 sectors by move, top contributor named

Technology's gain, small as it was, came down to Intel, which added 0.23 points to the sector after climbing 4.03%. That was enough to offset the broader mega-cap tech weakness reflected in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 figures above.

Technology: what moved it

Energy's decline was concentrated at the top: Exxon Mobil alone cost the sector 0.47 points on its 3.54% drop, the largest single-stock sector driver of the day, and Chevron's 2.86% decline compounded the slide.

Energy: what moved it

None of today's index moves qualify as large by the year-long standard. The S&P 500's decline sits at the 23rd percentile of moves over the past year, the Dow's steeper 1.21% drop lands at just the 5th percentile, and the Nasdaq 100's flat finish sits near the middle at the 47th percentile. All three fall well short of the 85th-percentile threshold for a large move.

The numbers

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Microsoft and Amazon Lead a Broad but Modest
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Compiled by the WMTMT attribution engine from the session's official data · built by the founders of Babylon Burns