Market Summary
U.S. equities closed out the week on a mixed note, with a late-session rally in semiconductor and mega-cap technology names offsetting broader weakness across the market. The S&P 500 finished Friday’s session at 7650.50, up 12.74 points (+0.17%), while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed with a gain of 104.25 points (+0.39%) to close at 26543.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, slipping 95.40 points (-0.18%) to 51682.64. Importantly, participation remained narrow — only three of eleven S&P 500 sectors finished in positive territory, and the Nasdaq was the only major average to post a gain for the week.
The session featured a pronounced afternoon recovery after a weaker first half, when rising Treasury yields and broad-based selling pushed the major averages to session lows. The PHLX Semiconductor Index surged 2.8% intraday, powering the Information Technology sector (+0.8%) to the top of the sector leaderboard, with standout gains in memory/storage names tied to AI data-center demand. Financials (+0.1%) got a lift from continued strength in crypto-adjacent names following the SEC’s new “Innovation Exemption,” while Industrials (+0.5%) rounded out the day’s sector winners. Small- and mid-cap stocks continued to underperform, with the Russell 2000 down 0.5% and the S&P Mid Cap 400 down 0.3% on the day, underscoring a persistent large-cap/small-cap performance gap.
Elevated Treasury yields remained the dominant macro headwind, with the 10-year note yield climbing to 5.00% amid lingering effects of the Bank of Japan’s 25-bp rate hike and yen weakness. Rate-sensitive sectors — Utilities, Real Estate, and Materials — bore the brunt of the pressure. Year-to-date, the Nasdaq Composite (+14.1%) and Russell 2000 (+15.3%) remain the strongest performers, followed by the S&P 500 (+11.8%), S&P Mid Cap 400 (+10.5%), and DJIA (+7.5%).
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 51,682.64 | -95.40 | -0.18% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,543.59 | +104.25 | +0.39% |
| S&P 500 | 7,650.50 | +12.74 | +0.17% |
Market Internals (NYSE): Advancers 912 | Decliners 1,817 | Volume 4.35 bln shares
Market Internals (Nasdaq): Advancers 2,040 | Decliners 2,886 | Volume 13.69 bln shares
WaveFinder Breadth (as of 2026-09-18):
- Primary Sentiment: Very Bearish (Bulls 1,123 / Bears 1,148)
- 4% Sentiment: Very Bullish (Bulls 356 / Bears 284)
- 40-Day SMA Sentiment: Bearish
- Stocks Above 20-Day SMA: 33.00%
- Stocks Above 40-Day SMA: 30.86%
- 9-Month Bulls: 120 | Bears: 104 (Follow-Through: 50%)
Breadth metrics remain broadly negative despite the headline index gains, reflecting the narrow, mega-cap/semiconductor-driven nature of Friday’s advance.
Sector Performance
Daily performance (18-Sep):
1. Information Technology: +0.8% — led by semiconductor and storage strength
2. Industrials: +0.5%
3. Financials: +0.1% — supported by crypto-exchange strength
4. Consumer Discretionary: Unchanged — AMZN offset broader softness
5. Communication Services: -0.7% — NFLX downgrade weighed
6. Materials: -1.1% — steel-sector earnings guidance disappointed
7. Utilities: -1.3% — worst performer, pressured by rising yields
8. Energy: Weak (no specific daily % disclosed)
9. Real Estate: Weak (no specific daily % disclosed)
10. Consumer Staples: Weak (no specific daily % disclosed)
11. Health Care: No daily figure disclosed (posted +1.8% for the week)
Weekly context (week-to-date, per Weekly Wrap): Health Care +1.8%, Communication Services +1.2%, Information Technology +1.1%, Financials -1.3%, Industrials -1.5%, Consumer Discretionary -1.5%, Materials -1.9%, Real Estate -2.3%, Utilities -3.0%.
WaveFinder Sector ATR (volatility, trend):
- Health Care: 1.54% (flat, P37)
- Communication Services: 0.15% (flat, P0)
- Energy: 0.23% (falling, P0)
- Technology: -0.20% (falling, P84)
- Financials: -1.17% (falling, P11)
- Consumer Staples: -1.37% (flat, P0)
- Materials: -1.56% (falling, P0)
- Industrials: -2.16% (falling, P11)
- Real Estate: -2.91% (flat, P5)
- Utilities: -3.26% (falling, P5)
- Consumer Discretionary: -1.92% (falling, P11)
Key Earnings & Movers
- Sandisk (SNDK) — $1,791.82, +$177.43 (+10.99%): AI data-center demand and tight storage supply drove sharp gains.
- Seagate Tech (STX) — $858.79, +$55.66 (+6.93%): Benefited from same storage/AI demand tailwind.
- Coherent (COHR) — $317.36, +$21.38 (+7.22%): Announced expansion of its Pluggable Optical Line System for cloud/AI interconnects.
- Coinbase Global (COIN) — $194.25, +$20.28 (+11.66%): SEC “Innovation Exemption” for tokenized equities plus Bitcoin surge past $81,000.
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) — $119.82, +$10.01 (+9.12%): Same crypto-regulatory catalyst.
- Amazon (AMZN) — $253.71, +$2.52 (+1.00%): Helped offset weakness in Consumer Discretionary.
- Nucor (NUE) — $248.38, -$16.76 (-6.32%): Q3 EPS guidance ($5.55-$5.65) below consensus.
- Steel Dynamics (STLD) — $235.26, -$10.09 (-4.11%): Q3 EPS guidance ($5.34-$5.38) below consensus.
- Netflix (NFLX) — $71.77, -$3.54 (-4.70%): Downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo.
- T-Mobile (TMUS) — Hit a new 52-week low before bouncing modestly; down over 30% from its 52-week high of $242.37 amid competitive pressure from VZ/T and long-term concerns over SpaceX’s mobile ambitions.
- Xenon Pharmaceuticals (XENE) — Under heavy pressure after voluntarily pausing enrollment in MDD/BPD studies, overshadowing its NDA submission for azetukalner in focal seizures.
- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) — Announced Warren Buffett will become Chairman Emeritus effective immediately; son Howard Buffett elected Chairman of the Board.
- Apple (AAPL) — iPhone 18 launched for sale today, drawing consumer lines at retail stores.
Stock Spotlight
Nucor (NUE) and Steel Dynamics (STLD) delivered one of the day’s more notable earnings surprises, guiding Q3 EPS below Street expectations despite the seasonal importance of the quarter for steel shipments. NUE guided to $5.55-$5.65 per share, citing expected earnings growth in steel mills and steel products segments offset by declines in raw materials and higher corporate/eliminations expense. STLD guided to $5.34-$5.38, pointing to higher average realized selling values and lower scrap costs as support. Shares fell 6.32% and 4.11%, respectively, on the day.
Despite the near-term EPS disappointment, the underlying commentary from both companies was more constructive than the headline miss suggests. Both are seeing higher steel selling prices, STLD is benefiting from lower scrap costs, and customer order activity remains strong amid persistently low inventories. With the 50% U.S. tariff on steel imports continuing to limit import competition and end-market demand holding solid across nonresidential construction, energy, automotive, and industrial sectors, the domestic steel pricing backdrop remains supportive even as investors digest the more cautious near-term guidance.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries closed the week on a weak note, with the 10-year note settling at 4.998% (-12/32 in price), up 5 basis points on the day and 2 basis points for the week — nearing the 2026 highs set earlier in the week. Shorter tenors underperformed:
- 2-yr: 4.74% (+5 bps day, +10 bps week)
- 3-yr: 4.83% (+7 bps day, +10 bps week)
- 5-yr: 4.86% (+6 bps day, +7 bps week)
- 10-yr: 5.00% (+5 bps day, +2 bps week)
- 30-yr: 5.33% (+4 bps day, -3 bps week) — the long bond was the lone outperformer, posting a modest weekly gain
The 2s10s spread tightened 8 basis points to 26 bps, extending the week’s flattening trend. Key drivers included the Bank of Japan’s 25-bp rate hike to 1.25% (a 7-2 vote), with Governor Ueda’s non-hawkish tone weighing on the yen and stoking concern over potential Japanese selling of Treasuries. Fed Governor Bowman also discussed the review of the 2023 SVB failure, noting regulators failed to address the bank’s interest-rate risk, and indicated the Fed will consider stress-test revisions.
Currencies: USD/JPY +0.5% to 156.68; EUR/USD +0.1% to 1.1485; GBP/USD +0.3% to 1.3394; USD/CNH -0.1% to 6.6949. The U.S. Dollar Index touched a seven-week high before settling little changed at 100.25, up 1.1% for the week.
Commodities
- WTI Crude Oil: $100.24/bbl, -1.8% on the day, roughly unchanged for the week
- Gold: $4,425.30/ozt, +0.6%
- Copper: $6.69/lb, +0.5%
- Silver: Not disclosed in available data
Overseas Markets
Specific index levels for Asian and European bourses were not disclosed in the available data; however, key regional developments included:
- Japan: Bank of Japan raised its policy rate by 25 bps to 1.25% (7-2 vote), as expected, but Governor Ueda’s lack of hawkish messaging weighed on the yen. August National CPI rose 0.1% m/m (+1.9% yr/yr); Core CPI +1.7% yr/yr (vs. 1.8% expected).
- China: August FDI down 5.3% YTD (prior -6.2%); reports indicate the U.S. will delay tariffs on excess manufacturing capacity until after President Xi’s visit. China is targeting CNY 3.5 trillion in pharmaceutical revenue by 2030.
- South Korea: August PPI +0.2% m/m, +7.9% yr/yr.
- New Zealand: August FPI +0.3% m/m; trade deficit of NZD 1.35 bln (narrower than the NZD 1.775 bln expected).
- Eurozone: July current account surplus of EUR 27.6 bln (vs. EUR 30.7 bln expected); July construction output unchanged m/m.
- UK: August retail sales +0.5% m/m / +2.4% yr/yr (both well above expectations); Chancellor Healey lobbying for UK inclusion in EU’s “Made in Europe” policy.
- Germany: August PPI +1.1% m/m (vs. +0.6% expected), +4.6% yr/yr.
- France: PM Lecornu targeting EUR 54 bln in 2027 budget savings to keep the deficit below 5.5% of GDP.
Economic Data
- Industrial Production (August): Unchanged m/m (consensus: +0.3%), following an unrevised +0.2% in July. Total IP up 1.4% yr/yr. Softness attributed to a manufacturing output decline, potentially a pause after seven consecutive months of gains.
- Capacity Utilization (August): 76.3% (consensus: 76.4%), unchanged from July, and 3.1 percentage points below its long-run average.
- Leading Economic Index (August): -0.1% (consensus: +0.2%), following a +0.2% prior reading — a modestly disappointing signal on forward economic momentum.
Looking Ahead
The Week Ahead:
- Monday: Nothing of note scheduled.
- Tuesday: Results of the $69 billion 2-year Treasury note auction at 13:00 ET.
- Wednesday: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior: -4.1%) at 7:00 ET; flash September S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI (prior: 53.9) and flash September S&P Global U.S. Services PMI (prior: 56.5) at 9:45 ET; weekly crude oil inventories (time not specified in available data).
Markets head into the new week with Treasury yields near 2026 highs, narrow leadership concentrated in semiconductors and mega-cap tech, and continued weakness in small- and mid-cap stocks — a dynamic likely to remain in focus as next week’s PMI data and Treasury auction results are digested.