Financials fall 2% on double volume as copper lifts materials 1.6%
Materials fund XLB rose 1.6% on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, while financials fund XLF fell 2.0% on 2.15 times average volume and the S&P 500 fund SPY finished unchanged.
The financials fund dropped 2.0% on Tuesday, September 22, on 2.15 times its average volume, the widest decline among the eleven sector funds. The S&P 500 fund finished unchanged. The equal-weight S&P 500 fund rose 0.04%. The split was by sector, not by company size.
JPMorgan Chase fell 3.4%, Bank of America 3.0%, Visa 2.1% and Charles Schwab 6.1%. Those four subtracted 0.85 percentage points, under half the fund's decline. The other 72 holdings supplied the rest. Berkshire Hathaway, the top weight at 12%, rose 0.3% and barely slowed it.
Financials fall with yields unchanged
The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.96% on Tuesday, little changed. The financials fund has been sliding since the Federal Reserve raised its target range on Wednesday, September 16; Tuesday's 2.0% drop was larger than that session's 1.6% decline.
Benzinga reported traders rotating into technology on concern that AI shopping agents such as Meta's Muse could disrupt payment companies. Visa and Mastercard, 8% and 5.8% of the fund, both fell 2.1%.
Charles Schwab, a 2.2% holding, fell 6.1% and subtracted 0.13 percentage points. TradingKey pointed to cash-sorting, with clients moving sweep deposits into higher-yielding money-market funds. The financials fund had already recorded $694.5 million of outflows in the week ended Friday, September 18.
Diesel export-ban talk hits Valero and Marathon
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is examining whether a diesel export ban is feasible given U.S. refining capacity, and whether a full or partial ban would work. President Trump said he backed the idea.
Valero Energy fell 4.1% and Marathon Petroleum 3.2%, a combined 9.7% of the energy fund. The fund dropped another 1.1%, a second down session after Monday's 2.9% decline, and is now down 5.7% over five days. Exxon Mobil, the largest holding, rose 0.2%.
Copper lifts materials 1.6%
Copper rose 2.0% to $6.90 a pound late Tuesday, near a year high. Newmont gained 3.4%, Freeport-McMoRan 3.0%, Linde 1.6% and Air Products 3.0%. Together those four names, 29% of the materials fund, added 0.73 percentage points. The fund rose 1.6% on below-average volume, a bounce inside a 5.2% decline over one month.
Six sector funds advanced, five declined.
Materials led on quiet volume; financials fell on 2.15×
The financials fund is down 4.3% over one month. Tuesday extended that slide on the heaviest volume of the five sessions since the Federal Reserve raised rates.
Frequently asked
Why did financials fall 2.0% on Tuesday?
Benzinga reported traders rotating into technology on concern that AI shopping agents such as Meta's Muse could disrupt payment companies, and the slide has run since the Fed raised its target range on September 16.
Did the four biggest decliners explain the drop?
No, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Visa and Schwab together subtracted 0.85 percentage points, under half the fund's decline, with the other 72 holdings supplying the rest.
Why did Charles Schwab fall 6.1%?
TradingKey pointed to cash-sorting, with clients moving sweep deposits into higher-yielding money-market funds.
What hit the energy fund?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is examining a diesel export ban and Trump backed the idea, with Valero down 4.1% and Marathon Petroleum down 3.2%.