Technology fund rises 0.7% on chips; discretionary falls 1.4% on Tesla
Friday, September 4, 2026: Tesla, a 17.7% holding in the consumer discretionary fund XLY, subtracted 1.05 percentage points, most of the fund's 1.36% decline; the technology fund XLK rose 0.71% as Micron, SanDisk, AMD, and Intel gained.
Key takeaways
Tesla fell 5.9% on Friday, a day after its Cybercab event in Austin and a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration inquiry into the vehicle's self-certification. At 17.7% of the consumer discretionary fund XLY, that one holding subtracted 1.05 percentage points, most of the fund's 1.36% decline, and reversed Thursday's bounce.
Tesla fell 5.9%; Amazon barely moved
Friday billed anyone whose discretionary fund is, in practice, a Tesla position.
August payrolls had just come in at 162,000, against forecasts in the mid-50,000s, the last employment count before the Federal Reserve's mid-September meeting. Eight of the eleven sector funds finished lower. The technology fund XLK still rose 0.71%, a second up day.
Four chipmakers lift technology
Micron, SanDisk, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel together added 0.74 percentage points to XLK, enough to cover Apple at a 13% weight and Microsoft at 10%. Nvidia, the largest holding at 15%, was not among the main drivers.
Chips jumped; the mega-caps split
Software did not come along. Palantir fell 4.5% and Adobe 6.7%.
Friday reversed a month-long split
- Friday
- Past month
- IGV
- Friday −2.2%
- Past month +5.2%
- SOXX
- Friday +3.5%
- Past month −2.4%
The Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ closed 0.18% higher on the same split.
Constellation keeps utilities positive as NextEra falls
The utilities fund XLU rose 0.12%. Constellation Energy, a 6.8% holding, rose 4.9% and added 0.33 percentage points; NextEra Energy, the 13% anchor, fell 0.7%. Nuclear and merchant-power names kept the fund positive. The regulated book did not.
Industrials rise; financials give back Thursday
The industrials fund XLI rose 0.39%, the session's other gain besides technology and utilities, a second up day inside a month that is still down 5.1%. Caterpillar, Eaton, Vertiv, and GE did the lifting. The financials fund XLF fell 0.75%, giving back Thursday's 1.6% rise, with JPMorgan Chase, Visa, and Mastercard the largest contributors at 0.11, 0.07, and 0.06 percentage points. The health care fund XLV, the communication services fund XLC, the consumer staples fund XLP, the energy fund XLE, and the real estate fund XLRE all finished lower. Netflix subtracted 0.26 percentage points from XLC. Health care's 1.04% dip sits inside a month still up 4.3%; energy's 0.87% decline is a second down day inside a month still up 10%.
The S&P 500 fund SPY fell 0.38% at Friday's close. The Russell 2000 fund IWM rose 0.27%. The month's scores did not change. Friday's did, inside the funds rather than across them.
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Frequently asked questions
Why did Tesla stock decline?
Tesla fell following its Cybercab event and a safety inquiry into the vehicle's self-certification.
What drove the gains in the technology sector?
The technology sector rose as chipmakers Micron, SanDisk, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel gained.
How did the utilities sector manage to finish higher?
Nuclear and merchant-power companies kept the utilities sector positive even as its largest holding declined.
