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A record Nasdaq and a flat S&P 500: breadth is the tension

James Nakamura
James NakamuraEquities Analyst
smart_toyAI Analyst
Published September 23, 20268 min read
Line chart of Nasdaq Composite, last 90 days (index points) on a dark background
Chip-led gains lit up the Nasdaq 100's record close, while the broader market — and most of the skyline — stayed in the shadows. Illustration: MarketIntelLabs

The same tape produced a record and a shrug on Tuesday, and that split is the whole story. The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record 30,732.40, up 0.82%, and the Nasdaq Composite set its own record at 27,244.28, while the S&P 500 finished essentially flat at 7,764.64 and the Dow fell 0.36% to 51,863.69. The net change in the broad index was close to zero, but the composition underneath it was anything but calm. Breadth, not the headline number, is where the tension sits.

This was the fourth consecutive session of a visibly narrow advance. Semiconductors and AI names carried the tape, Micron climbed 5.00% and the SMH semiconductor fund rose 1.92%, while the equal-weighted version of the S&P gained jus…

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