Market Summary
U.S. equities staged a significant intraday reversal on Thursday, September 24, as the S&P 500 (7,704.23, -1.80, -0.02%) and Nasdaq Composite (26,960.42, +3.34, +0.01%) clawed back from sharp morning losses to finish essentially flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (51,349.89, -161.70, -0.31%) posted a more modest decline. The session opened under heavy pressure as WTI crude oil spiked above $96/barrel and Treasury yields held at multi-year highs, hammering growth and technology names early. Sentiment shifted meaningfully after a Reuters report indicated the U.S. and Iran are discussing a “phased reopening” of the Strait of Hormuz, which sent oil retreating from its highs and allowed mega-cap and semiconductor stocks to erase the bulk of their losses.
Despite the flat headline finish, the underlying tape was considerably weaker than the indices suggested. Decliners outpaced advancers by nearly 2-to-1 on the NYSE (930 advancing vs. 1,800 declining) and roughly 3-to-2 on the Nasdaq (1,769 advancing vs. 2,679 declining), while 8 of 11 sectors closed lower. Communication Services (+1.9%) led the market by a wide margin on the back of a dramatic Meta Platforms rally, and Health Care (+0.7%) also outperformed. Treasury yields remained the dominant macro headwind all session, with the 10-year note yield climbing 7 basis points to 5.18% and the 2-year note rising 2 basis points to 4.91%, pressured further by a soft $44 billion 7-year note auction and hawkish commentary from voting FOMC members Williams and Paulson.
Looking at the broader tape, small- and mid-caps lagged the mega-cap-driven recovery, with the Russell 2000 off 0.1% and the S&P Mid Cap 400 down 0.4%. Year-to-date, the Nasdaq Composite remains the standout performer at +15.9%, followed by the Russell 2000 (+14.4%), S&P 500 (+12.5%), S&P Mid Cap 400 (+10.1%), and the Dow (+6.8%).
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 51,349.89 | -161.70 | -0.31% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,960.42 | +3.34 | +0.01% |
| S&P 500 | 7,704.23 | -1.80 | -0.02% |
Breadth (Briefing.com):
- NYSE: 930 Advancers / 1,800 Decliners | Volume: 1.19 bln
- Nasdaq: 1,769 Advancers / 2,679 Decliners | Volume: 8.10 bln
WaveFinder Market Breadth:
- Primary Sentiment: Very Bearish
- 4% Sentiment: Bearish
- 40 SMA Sentiment: Oversold
- Primary Bulls: 752 | Bears: 1,010
- 4% Bulls: 113 | Bears: 180
- Stocks Above 20-day SMA: 36%
- Stocks Above 40-day SMA: 20.11%
- 9-Month Bulls: 15 | Bears: 24 (Bull Follow-Through: 15.38%)
The breadth data confirms a market that is technically oversold and skewed bearish beneath a deceptively flat index-level close.
Sector Performance
Ranked by daily performance (Briefing.com):
1. Communication Services: +1.9% — Led by Meta Platforms’ surge on Muse AI agent reception
2. Health Care: +0.7% — Strength in Moderna and Eli Lilly
3. Energy: +0.4% — Tracking the rebound in crude oil
4. Financials: 0.0% (flat)
5. Information Technology: -0.3% — Recovered from an intraday decline of over 1.0%
6. Real Estate: -0.4%
7. Consumer Discretionary: weak (specific % not disclosed in source data)
8. Industrials: -0.7%
9. Materials: -1.0%
10. Utilities: -1.0%
11. Consumer Staples: -1.0%
WaveFinder Sector ATR (Volatility) Notes:
- Health Care: ATR 2.06% (rising, P63) — elevated volatility alongside sector leadership
- Technology: ATR 1.23% (rising, P95) — volatility near yearly highs despite modest daily loss
- Utilities: ATR -4.85% (falling, P0)
- Real Estate: ATR -3.35% (flat, P0)
- Industrials: ATR -2.41% (flat, P0)
- Consumer Discretionary: ATR -2.24% (falling, P0)
- Financials: ATR -2.13% (falling, P5)
- Materials: ATR -1.57% (falling, P5)
- Consumer Staples: ATR -1.50% (falling, P0)
- Communication Services: ATR -0.64% (falling, P5)
- Energy: ATR -0.45% (falling, P11)
Key Earnings & Movers
- Meta Platforms (META): $777.59, +$33.49 (+4.50%) — Hit year-to-date highs; up roughly 36% since the start of September following the launch of its Muse AI agent, giving investors a clearer monetization path for AI investment.
- Oracle (ORCL): $139.52, -$5.04 (-3.48%) — Continued weakness after Bloomberg reported the company issued a “force majeure” notice to the developer of its New Mexico data center project (shares were down as much as 4.0% pre-market).
- Moderna (MRNA): $194.82, +$12.71 (+6.98%) — Standout gainer in Health Care.
- Eli Lilly (LLY): $1,183.79, +$32.80 (+2.85%) — Contributed to sector strength.
- Everpure (P): $121.83, +$12.18 (+11.11%) — Record highs following a bullish Analyst Day and FY28 outlook.
- MGM Resorts (MGM): $33.68, -$4.17 (-11.02%) — One of the S&P 500’s worst performers after People Incorporated (PPLI) withdrew its acquisition proposal.
- People Incorporated (PPLI): $35.93, -$0.04 (-0.11%) — Confirmed withdrawal of the MGM acquisition bid.
- BlackBerry (BB): Little changed despite a Q2 beat and raised FY27 guidance ($0.19-$0.22 adj. EPS; $616-$636 mln revenue), as a cautious Q3 setup and softer Secure Communications outlook offset record QNX results.
- Akamai: Cited in after-hours coverage as rising on an Anthropic cloud deal (headline only; no price data provided).
Stock Spotlight
Everpure (P) was the top-performing name in the S&P 500 Thursday, surging to all-time highs — up $12.18 (+11.11%) to $121.83 — following a bullish Analyst Day. While the storage and data management provider reaffirmed its FY27 outlook, the standout was preliminary FY28 guidance calling for revenue of $7.0-7.3 billion, implying 39-45% growth — an acceleration from the 37-38% growth embedded in FY27 guidance. Management said the company has reached an “inflection point,” with revenue growth accelerating for eight consecutive quarters, driven by share gains in core enterprise storage alongside expanding AI-related demand.
The company outlined four growth vectors — Core + Core AI, Modern Data Software, Scale AI, and Hyperscale Solutions — and projects its total addressable market nearly doubling from $108 billion in 2026 to $207 billion by 2030. Notably, P secured a second top-five hyperscaler design win in August (its first came in late 2024), with a meaningful revenue ramp expected in FY28. On profitability, non-GAAP operating income is guided to $1.7-1.9 billion (+80-100% yr/yr) with margins expanding to 24-26% from 18.7-18.9%, and management is targeting a Rule of 40 score of 60-70 in FY28. Briefing.com’s analysis notes execution risk given the size of the FY28 step-up but views the two hyperscaler wins as early validation of the broader growth thesis.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries attempted to rebound from Wednesday’s sell-off but failed to hold gains, with yields settling near session highs after a soft $44 billion 7-year note auction (high yield 5.085%, tailing the when-issued yield by nearly a basis point; bid-to-cover 2.42 vs. 2.48 average of the prior 12 auctions; indirect bid 57.2% vs. 62.9% average).
Yield Check (change on the day):
- 2-yr: +2 bps to 4.91%
- 3-yr: +2 bps to 4.99%
- 5-yr: +4 bps to 5.04%
- 10-yr: +7 bps to 5.18%
- 30-yr: +7 bps to 5.47%
Month-to-date, the 2-year yield has spiked 57 basis points and the 10-year has jumped 44 basis points. Key drivers included hawkish commentary from voting FOMC members New York Fed President John Williams (reasonable to expect another rate hike this year) and Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson (“some modest further tightening may be warranted”), alongside elevated government debt levels and lingering inflation concerns tied to the rise in oil prices. The CME FedWatch Tool showed a 70.9% probability of a 25-bp hike at the October FOMC meeting and a 52.3% probability of an additional 25-bp hike in December.
Commodities
| Commodity | Price | Change |
|—|—|—|
| WTI Crude Oil | $94.68/bbl | +$2.22 (+2.4%) |
| Gold | $4,299.30/ozt | -0.4% |
| Copper | $6.78/lb | +0.4% |
Oil surged above $96/barrel intraday before retreating sharply on reports of U.S.-Iran discussions over a phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, ultimately settling well off its highs but still up 2.4% on the day. (Silver pricing was not disclosed in source data.)
Overseas Markets
Specific Asian and European index levels were not disclosed in today’s source data. Notable international developments included:
- The Swiss National Bank left its policy rate unchanged at 0.00%
- The Riksbank held its rate steady at 1.75%
- Norges Bank raised its policy rate by 25 bps to 4.50%
- The U.S. and China agreed to extend their trade truce by two months, to January 10, with Treasury Secretary Bessent noting China could announce additional agricultural purchases and financial-services deals in the coming days
- China reportedly took possession of F-35 parts diverted to Hong Kong (Bloomberg)
- Qatar increased LNG tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to its highest level in two months (Bloomberg)
Economic Data
- Initial Jobless Claims: Decreased 1,000 to 197,000 for the week ending September 19 (Briefing.com consensus: 202,000). Continuing claims rose 2,000 to 1.719 million (week ending September 12). Takeaway: layoff activity remains low, consistent with a solid labor demand environment.
- Q2 Current Account Balance: Deficit widened to -$246.0 billion (Briefing.com consensus: -$221.0 billion) from an upwardly revised -$212.6 billion (from -$228.6 billion) in Q1.
- New Home Sales: Rose 6.4% m/m in August to 684,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 610,000), up from an upwardly revised 643,000 in July. Down 2.0% year-over-year. Takeaway: sales rebound exceeded expectations alongside lower prices, though levels still trail last year’s pace.
Looking Ahead
Friday, September 25 (Day Ahead):
- 8:30 ET: August Durable Goods Orders (Briefing.com consensus: -0.4%; prior: +1.1%) and Durable Goods Orders ex-Transportation (Briefing.com consensus: +0.5%; prior: +0.4%)
- 10:00 ET: September University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment – Final reading (Briefing.com consensus: 47.8; prior: 47.8)
Broader Themes to Monitor:
- Continued developments on potential U.S.-Iran discussions regarding the Strait of Hormuz and their impact on oil prices
- Fed rate-hike expectations into the October FOMC meeting (currently 70.9% probability per CME FedWatch) and December meeting (52.3% probability)
- Follow-through on Treasury auction demand after soft results in both the 5-year and 7-year auctions this week
- Continued monetization progress for Meta’s Muse AI agent following its outsized rally
- Resolution details around the Oracle New Mexico data center “force majeure” notice