---
title: "4,076 U.S. stocks fell as oil topped $100 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.5%"
url: "https://etf.net/news/4-076-u-s-stocks-fell-as-oil-topped-100-and-the-s-p-500-dropped-0-5-2026-09-09"
published_at: "2026-09-09T21:05:41.953Z"
updated_at: "2026-09-09T21:05:41.953Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# 4,076 U.S. stocks fell as oil topped $100 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.5%

On Wednesday, September 9, 2026, only 1,545 of 5,834 U.S. stocks advanced; the S&P 500 fund fell 0.46% while equal-weight lagged by 0.50 percentage points.

By ETF.net Research. Published Sep 9, 2026.

The S&P 500 closed at **7,637.70**, down **0.47%**. That is not what most of the market did. Counted name by name, Wednesday was a broad decline that cap-weighted funds only partly showed, the second session in a row of that split. A handful of large winners, led by Meta Platforms, made the indexes look calmer than the board underneath them.

## 1,545 stocks rose; 4,076 fell

Of **5,834** U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, **1,545** advanced, **4,076** declined, and 213 were unchanged. The count excludes ETFs, funds, foreign listings, and currency and crypto symbols.

Chart: **4,076** stocks fell; only 1,545 rose

That is the session. The S&P 500 fund SPY fell **0.46%**. The Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ fell **0.29%**. Neither print describes a market in which seven in ten listed stocks went down.

ETF Trends noted that Brent rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since July after an escalation in the Middle East. After the 4 p.m. Eastern equity close, Brent was at **$101.60**, up **3.8%** on the day. Exxon Mobil, the oil producer, rose **2.2%** with it.

The 10 largest holdings are **38%** of SPY. That concentration is why a 0.5% index decline and a 2.6-to-1 declining board can coexist. It is not why the index fell. Inside SPY, the eight biggest contributors and detractors together accounted for only **15%** of the fund's move. The selling was spread across the book. The weights just made it look smaller.

## Equal-weight lagged by half a percentage point

The S&P 500 equal-weight fund RSP fell **0.96%**, trailing SPY by **0.50** percentage points. The average S&P 500 stock fell about twice as much as the cap-weighted index.

Casey's General Stores, the convenience-store chain, dropped **14%** after reporting that inside same-store sales, the food and merchandise sold in its stores, grew **3.2%**, slower than a year earlier, even as earnings beat estimates. It was the largest hole in RSP and subtracted **0.02** percentage points. The eight largest pushes and pulls together explained only **5%** of the equal-weight decline.

The Russell 2000 small-cap fund IWM fell **1.36%**, the weakest of the four major size and style prints. Tuesday's selling had already been broad. Wednesday it moved down the cap ladder.

Chart: Losses **widened** from the Nasdaq-100 fund to small caps

Over five sessions through Wednesday, QQQ is up **1.2%** and SPY is barely positive. RSP is down **1.4%**. The latest session is the latest print of a week in which the Nasdaq-100 has been rising and the average large-cap stock has not.

Over one month, RSP is down **2.5%** and IWM is down **3.1%**, against **1.4%** for SPY. Year to date, the Russell 2000 fund is still up **18.6%** and equal-weight still holds a slim lead on the S&P 500 fund. SPY remains above its 50-day average. RSP and IWM do not.

## Five mega-caps rose. Only Meta mattered

Only **5** of 20 mega-caps finished higher. Meta Platforms rose **6.6%** after the company said interest in a new AI agent had blown past its expectations, and added **0.13** percentage points to SPY. That was the day's largest lift in the cap-weighted fund, and it was not enough to turn the index up.

Nvidia, an **8.3%** weight, fell **0.86%** and subtracted **0.07** percentage points. Amazon fell **1.8%**. Alphabet's Class A shares fell **2.3%**. Apple, which unveiled a foldable iPhone at its first event under CEO John Ternus, slipped **0.28%**.

The Nasdaq-100's **0.29%** drop is the cleanest illustration. Meta added **0.19** percentage points to QQQ. Micron added **0.14**. Advanced Micro Devices added **0.11**.

The read is a broad decline that cap-weighted indexes understated, with crude above $100. Thursday would need the average S&P 500 stock to keep pace with SPY on a day when oil is not still climbing. That print would show whether Wednesday's lag needed oil to persist. Another down day for equal-weight and small caps, with a few large winners cushioning the index, would not settle it.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/4-076-u-s-stocks-fell-as-oil-topped-100-and-the-s-p-500-dropped-0-5-2026-09-09. Please cite the page URL.