The S&P 500 slipped to 7,592.40 on Thursday, a decline of 26.98 points, or 0.35 percent. Breadth leaned negative: just 119 of the S&P 500's 486 members finished higher, meaning losers outnumbered winners by more than three to one. Concentration came in at 86 percent in narrow mode, a sign that a short list of mega-caps did most of the work on both sides of the ledger.
Nvidia did the bulk of the damage by itself, falling 4.34 percent and cutting 20.38 points from the index. Micron, General Electric, Applied Materials, and Meta Platforms added smaller drags on top of that. On the other side, Broadcom added 9.22 points after a 5.54 percent gain, and Advanced Micro Devices contributed 5.34 points on a 5.86 percent rise. The two Alphabet share classes together added 5.59 points, with GOOGL up 1.79 percent and GOOG up 1.62 percent. Tesla rose 1.69 percent, adding 1.96 points.
The Dow
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,297.00, down 189.49 points, or 0.36 percent, a slightly sharper percentage loss than the S&P 500. Breadth was decisively negative, with only 11 of its 30 members finishing higher, and concentration ran hotter still at 82 percent in narrow mode.
Here the story diverges from the broader market. Goldman Sachs, not Nvidia, did the most damage, falling 1.43 percent and cutting 78.51 points off the average. Nvidia's drop still mattered, pulling the Dow down 44.81 points, with Visa, American Express, and Sherwin-Williams adding to the slide. Offsetting some of that, Alphabet again landed on the plus side, adding 31.2 points on its 1.79 percent gain, alongside Travelers, Caterpillar, Johnson & Johnson, and Chevron.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 fell to 28,289.19, down 85.06 points, or 0.30 percent, the smallest percentage decline of the three indices. Breadth was mixed, with 35 of 99 members higher, and concentration measured 161 percent, underscoring how heavily the net result rested on a few constituents pulling in opposite directions.
Nvidia's influence was far larger here than elsewhere, subtracting 118.32 points on its 4.34 percent slide, with Micron, ASML, Meta Platforms, and Applied Materials adding smaller drags. But the Nasdaq 100 also housed the day's biggest offsets: Broadcom alone added 59.49 points, and the two Alphabet classes together contributed 79.8 points. Advanced Micro Devices added 34.6 points and Tesla another 17.01, enough to keep the index's percentage loss below both the Dow's and the S&P 500's.
The sectors
Eleven sectors split eight lower, one flat, and one, Energy, standing alone with a gain. Energy rose 1.5 percent, led by ExxonMobil's 1.87 percent advance, which added 0.37 points to the sector. Utilities were flat on the day; Constellation Energy rose 2.79 percent but added just 0.09 points to the group. At the other end, Materials fell 1.3 percent, the day's weakest sector, dragged down by Newmont's 4.88 percent decline, which cost the sector 0.17 points. Communication Services, Industrials, and Financials all posted losses beyond half a percent as well.
Energy's advance was modest in point terms but stood out against a sea of red; ExxonMobil's gain was the sector's only driver worth naming today.
Materials' decline was led by Newmont, with no other name in the sector offering a meaningful offset.
Against the past year, today's move sits at the 28th percentile for the S&P 500, the 29th for the Dow, and the 35th for the Nasdaq 100, all comfortably within the range of ordinary trading days rather than standout sessions.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,592.40, down 26.98 points, or 0.35 percent.
- The Dow closed at 52,297.00, down 189.49 points, or 0.36 percent.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 28,289.19, down 85.06 points, or 0.30 percent.
- Breadth on the S&P 500 was 119 advancers versus 367 decliners among 486 members.
- Nvidia was the day's biggest single drag, cutting 118.32 points from the Nasdaq 100 on a 4.34 percent decline.
- Broadcom was the Nasdaq 100's biggest driver, adding 59.49 points on a 5.54 percent gain.
- Goldman Sachs led the Dow lower, subtracting 78.51 points on a 1.43 percent decline.
- Energy was the strongest sector, up 1.5 percent, while Materials was the weakest, down 1.3 percent.
- The S&P 500's move ranked in the 28th percentile of the past year's sessions.
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