The S&P 500 closed the week at 7,785.76, up 28.12 points, or 0.36%, from August 7 to August 14. Breadth ran well ahead of that modest headline number: 295 of 503 members finished the week higher, and the equal-weighted version of the index gained 1.24%, more than three times the cap-weighted move. That gap is the week's real story. The average stock had a good week; a small group of the largest names took the points back off the top.
Micron Technology led the index's advance, adding 11.01 points on a 10.72% gain, followed by Sandisk, up 35.38% and worth 6.65 points, then Tesla, Exxon Mobil, and Advanced Micro Devices. Working the other way, Broadcom cut 18.53 points off the index on an 8.13% decline, Apple gave back 14.38 points, and Amazon.com subtracted 11.97 points. Alphabet's two share classes together took off another 10.04 points, with both Class A and Class C down more than 2% apiece.
The Dow
The Dow told the opposite story. It closed at 53,732.00, down 304.93 points, or 0.56%, with only 13 of its 30 members higher and the equal-weighted Dow down 0.5%. Concentration ran to 84%, and the week's mode was flagged as divergence, meaning the index and its components pulled against each other more than usual.
Home Depot cost the Dow 99.14 points on a 4.69% decline, the week's largest single drag anywhere in the average. Travelers took off 82.73 points, Honeywell 72.81, Amazon.com another 70.31, and Sherwin-Williams 63.39. On the other side, Caterpillar added 85.41 points on a 1.71% gain, Chevron added 80 points on a 7.21% jump, and Merck, JPMorgan Chase, and Amgen rounded out the list of supports. None of that offset was enough; the losses on the industrial and housing side outweighed the gains.
The Nasdaq 100
The Nasdaq 100 closed at 30,046.14, up 323.84 points, or 1.09%, with 65 of 102 members higher and the equal-weighted index up 2.22%. Concentration reached 93%, the highest of the three indices this week.
Space Exploration Technologies was the single largest contributor across all three indices, adding 186.83 points on a 5.18% gain. Alphabet added 60.05 points to the Nasdaq 100 even as its shares fell 2.37% on the week, a split worth noting as printed. Micron, Tesla, and Sandisk followed on the upside. On the downside, Apple subtracted 117.86 points despite a smaller 2.28% decline, reflecting its index weight, and Nvidia took off 108.02 points even with shares up 0.54%. Broadcom, Applied Materials, and Cisco rounded out the drags, with Cisco down 8.03% and Broadcom down 8.13%.
The sectors
Nine of the eleven sectors finished the week higher. The spread between the best and worst was wide: Energy gained 7.67% while Consumer Discretionary lost 1.37%, a range of more than nine points that sums up how uneven the week was beneath the index-level numbers.
Energy was the week's strongest sector by a wide margin, up 7.67%, or 4.41 points. Chevron was the top driver, up 7.21% and worth 0.67 points to the sector's move.
Consumer Discretionary was the weakest, down 1.37%, or 1.64 points. Amazon.com was the largest single drag on the group, down 4.31% and worth negative 1.18 points to the sector.
Percentile data for the week's moves was not included in the record behind this note, so no comparison to the past year can be made here. What can be said plainly from the figures themselves is that the S&P's headline move understated the breadth of the week, the Dow moved against that breadth, and the Nasdaq 100's gain leaned on a small group of names even more heavily than usual.
The numbers
- The S&P 500 closed at 7,785.76, up 28.12 points, or 0.36%, for the week.
- 295 of 503 S&P 500 members finished the week higher, while the equal-weighted S&P gained 1.24%.
- Micron Technology was the S&P 500's top contributor, adding 11.01 points on a 10.72% gain; Broadcom was the biggest drag, cutting 18.53 points on an 8.13% decline.
- The Dow closed at 53,732.00, down 304.93 points, or 0.56%, with only 13 of 30 members higher.
- Home Depot was the Dow's largest drag, down 4.69% and costing the average 99.14 points; Caterpillar was the top support, adding 85.41 points.
- The Nasdaq 100 closed at 30,046.14, up 323.84 points, or 1.09%, with concentration at 93%, the highest of the three indices.
- Space Exploration Technologies added 186.83 points to the Nasdaq 100, the single largest contribution across all three indices this week.
- Energy was the strongest sector, up 7.67%; Consumer Discretionary was the weakest, down 1.37%.
From Babylon Burns
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