Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet rose, and the S&P 500 fund still fell
Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet rose on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, and SPY, the fund that holds the S&P 500, still fell 0.23% while 3,551 US common stocks fell.
Key takeaways
Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon and Alphabet rose on Wednesday, and SPY, the fund that holds the S&P 500, fell 0.23% to $762.48 anyway.
RSP, which holds the same stocks in equal amounts, closed 6.9% below its high of the past year. SPY closed 2.1% below its own.
Wednesday made that distance wider. RSP fell 0.71% to $208.02, more than three times as far as SPY.
Of 5,853 US common stocks on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, 3,551 fell, 2,059 rose, and 243 were unchanged.
3,551 stocks fell, outnumbering those that rose
- Fell 3551
- Rose 2059
- Unchanged 243
The count and SPY agreed on the direction. They disagreed on the size of the fall.
Those five companies are about 30% of SPY. Alphabet trades as two stocks in the fund, and together they are a larger holding than Amazon. The five added 0.26 percentage points. The fund still fell, because the rest of its holdings subtracted more than that.
But not every large stock rose. Eight of the 20 largest rose, and Meta, Eli Lilly, Broadcom and Walmart did the most to pull SPY down.
By sector, technology was the one that rose. XLK, the fund that holds S&P 500 technology stocks, rose 0.6%. XLF, XLV, XLP and XLI, the funds that hold the S&P 500's financial, health-care, consumer-staples and industrial stocks, each fell more than 1%.
That is why QQQ went the other way from the count. The fund, which holds the Nasdaq-100, has 60% of its assets in technology stocks. It gained 0.25% and closed at $739.77.
Wednesday morning, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said its price index for consumer spending was 3.4% higher in August than a year earlier, and that the economy grew at a 2.2% annual rate in the second quarter, revised up 0.4 percentage point. Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, wrote that August inflation was not as hot as markets had expected, and that investors were rethinking how many rate increases might still be needed.
September shows the same gap. RSP fell 5.2%, and SPY fell 0.6%.
The equal-weight fund has fallen in each of the past six full weeks. It is down 1.5% so far this week, with Thursday and Friday still ahead.
Frequently asked
Why did the S&P 500 fund fall if those five stocks rose?
The five added 0.26 percentage points, and the rest of its holdings subtracted more than that.
How many stocks fell?
Of 5,853 US common stocks, 3,551 fell, 2,059 rose, and 243 were unchanged.
How did the equal-weight fund do?
It fell 0.71% to $208.02, more than three times as far as the S&P 500 fund.
Why did the Nasdaq-100 fund rise?
It has 60% of its assets in technology stocks, the one sector that rose, and it gained 0.25%.
