3,081 stocks rose as the S&P 500 finished unchanged and Nasdaq-100 neared a high
On Tuesday, September 22, 3,081 of 5,862 U.S. common stocks advanced and 2,530 declined; the S&P 500 closed unchanged at 7,764.27, and the Nasdaq-100 fund gained 0.81%.
Ten of the twenty largest U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, among them Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and JPMorgan Chase, and that split held the S&P 500 at 7,764.27, down 0.01% at the close. The pause sits on a month in which the cap-weighted S&P 500 fund SPY rose 1.3% while the equal-weight version of the same 500 stocks, RSP, fell 3.6% and the Russell 2000 fund IWM dropped 4.0%.
A slight majority of stocks rose, small-caps with them. The Nasdaq-100 touched a 52-week high. After Monday's 1.55% jump in SPY, driven by Meta and the chipmakers, the cap-weighted index held that gain and went no further.
More stocks rose than fell, and both S&P 500 funds finished near unchanged
Of 5,862 U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, 3,081 advanced, 2,530 declined and 251 were unchanged. That is a 52.6% advancer share, or 1.22 advancers for every decliner. Funds, foreign listings and other non-common symbols are outside that count.
RSP gained 0.04%. SPY was unchanged. The spread between them was 0.05 percentage points; the equal-weight board went nowhere.
QQQ and IWM rose; both S&P 500 funds went nowhere
- +0.8%
- +0.6%
- +0.04%
- −0.02%
The Dow industrials fund DIA fell 0.35%, tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average's drop of 185 points to 51,863.69. Mega-caps as a group went 10 up, 10 down. The financials sector fund XLF fell 2.0%, with JPMorgan Chase down 3.4% and Charles Schwab down 6.1%. The technology sector fund XLK rose 0.72%. Inside SPY, Micron Technology and Nvidia's gains were offset by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft and Alphabet, and the fund finished unchanged.
Micron did the heavy lifting in the Nasdaq-100
The Nasdaq-100 rose 0.82% to 30,732.40 after trading as high as 30,770.63, matching its 52-week high. The Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ gained 0.81% and finished 0.16% below its own 52-week high.
That gain was not a committee vote. Micron Technology, 4.9% of QQQ and due to report on September 30, rose 5.0% and contributed 0.25 percentage points. SanDisk added another 0.07 after Rosenblatt Securities started coverage at buy with a $2,400 target, 27% above Tuesday's $1,887 close. Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia contributed 0.06 and 0.05. Those four names produced 0.43 percentage points, more than half the fund’s rise.
Cisco Systems, 1.8% of the same fund, fell 4.5% and took back 0.08 percentage points after Piper Sandler cut its price target to $125 from $132, citing concern that industry growth is peaking. Amazon and Microsoft joined the drag.
Over five sessions QQQ gained 6.2%. Advanced Micro Devices, Micron, Intel and Nvidia contributed 3.27 percentage points of that rise.
Five sessions of Nasdaq-100, a month of equal-weight decline
Tuesday’s slight majority does not rewind the past month. QQQ is up 4.9% over one month and 6.2% over five sessions. RSP is down 3.6% over one month and 0.17% over five sessions, and still sits 4.8% below its 52-week high. IWM is down 4.0% over one month even after Tuesday. SPY is up 1.3% over one month, which is what concentration looks like when Nvidia is 8.1% of the fund and the top ten holdings are 38.6%.
The five-session column is the tell. Cap-weight’s gain is mostly Monday. Nasdaq-100 kept going on Tuesday. Equal-weight did not.
If you hold SPY, Tuesday was a pause after a concentrated gift. If you hold RSP, you spent the session in place and still sit well below where the equal-weight S&P 500 traded a month ago. If you hold QQQ, you are a fraction of a percent from a 52-week high because memory and chip names, not the rest of the 5,862-stock board, extended a five-day run. The index headline said unchanged. The holdings said otherwise.
Frequently asked
Why did the S&P 500 finish unchanged when most stocks rose?
Ten of the twenty largest U.S. stocks fell, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and JPMorgan Chase, offsetting gains from Micron and Nvidia inside the fund.
What drove the Nasdaq-100's 0.82% gain?
Micron rose 5.0% and contributed 0.25 percentage points, and with SanDisk, AMD and Nvidia the four names produced 0.43 points, more than half the fund's rise.
How far is QQQ from its 52-week high?
The Nasdaq-100 fund finished 0.16% below its own 52-week high, and the index itself traded as high as 30,770.63, matching its 52-week high.
How does equal-weight compare with cap-weight over the past month?
SPY is up 1.3% over one month while RSP is down 3.6% and IWM is down 4.0%.