U.S. stocks closed mixed on the final trading day of September, with the Nasdaq indices holding onto modest gains while the Dow, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 finished lower.
The Dow fell 441 points to its lowest closing level since early June. Only eight of its 30 components advanced, as selling continued across much of the index. Six of the Magnificent Seven stocks moved higher, helping the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 finish in positive territory. Meta was the exception.
The closing session reflected September’s broader divide. Selected technology and semiconductor stocks attracted buyers, while many consumer, financial and industrial names struggled. The Nasdaq indices finished the month higher, but the Dow and small-cap Russell 2000 posted sizable declines.
U.S. stock closing levels
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Dow Industrial Average: down 441.03 points (-0.86%) to 50,914.09.
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S&P 500: down 18.82 points (-0.25%) to 7,652.03.
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Nasdaq Composite: up 63.52 points (+0.24%) to 26,861.06.
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Russell 2000: down 11.04 points (-0.39%) to 2,796.8779.
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Nasdaq 100: up 69.17 points (+0.23%) to 30,408.50.
September performance: Technology leads, but participation remains narrow
The monthly results show where buyers were most active:
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Dow Industrial Average: -4.29%.
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S&P 500: -0.45%.
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Nasdaq Composite: +1.86%.
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Russell 2000: -5.39%.
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Nasdaq 100: +3.23%.
The Nasdaq 100 outperformed the Russell 2000 by 8.62 percentage points. That is a meaningful gap between large technology-oriented companies and smaller U.S. companies.
The S&P 500’s modest monthly decline also hides considerable weakness underneath the surface. Strong gains in selected large stocks helped offset losses elsewhere. For the Dow, only five of its 30 components finished September higher.
Magnificent Seven: Daily and monthly performance
Apple led today’s gains, closely followed by Amazon. Meta moved lower, but its September gain of 26.70% still left it well ahead of the other Magnificent Seven stocks.
Five of the seven advanced for the month. Amazon and Tesla finished lower, showing that even within this closely watched group, buyers were selective.
Dow: Just eight gainers today
The Dow’s advancing stocks were:
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Salesforce: +1.91%.
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Apple: +1.10%.
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Amazon: +1.01%.
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Microsoft: +0.77%.
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Cisco: +0.65%.
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Nvidia: +0.51%.
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Honeywell: +0.39%.
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Chevron: +0.04%.
The largest percentage declines included Walmart (-2.70%), Merck (-2.61%), 3M (-2.53%), Sherwin-Williams (-2.12%), UnitedHealth (-2.05%) and Procter & Gamble (-2.01%). Caterpillar fell 1.93%, Travelers lost 1.81%, Visa declined 1.78% and Goldman Sachs slipped 1.58%.
The selling extended across several industries. This was broad weakness within the Dow, even as selected technology components found buyers.
Dow’s September winners and losers
Only five Dow stocks finished the month higher:
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Apple: +5.10%.
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Nvidia: +3.44%.
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Caterpillar: +1.66%.
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Microsoft: +1.11%.
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Procter & Gamble: +0.15%.
The biggest monthly declines were:
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Home Depot: -13.24%.
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McDonald’s: -12.33%.
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Goldman Sachs: -12.10%.
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Salesforce: -10.84%.
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Boeing: -10.44%.
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Nike: -9.40%.
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Verizon: -8.24%.
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American Express: -7.86%.
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JPMorgan: -7.05%.
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IBM: -5.95%.
Salesforce provides a useful example of the difference between daily and monthly performance. It led the Dow’s gains today, but still finished September down nearly 11%.
Other notable September winners and losers
Among some other notable stocks for the month Moderna led the gainers, while several semiconductor and technology names also posted strong advances.
The losing side included consumer companies, software stocks and other names with substantial monthly declines.
Trading education: Look underneath the index
A higher Nasdaq does not mean the whole market is moving higher. Large companies have substantial influence on market-capitalization-weighted indices, so strength in a relatively small group can offset weakness in many other stocks.
Today, six of the Magnificent Seven rose, while 22 of the Dow’s 30 components fell. For September, the Nasdaq 100 gained 3.23%, but only five Dow stocks advanced.
The practical lesson is to check participation alongside the headline index. Buyers have shown strength in selected technology names. A broader advance would require more stocks and sectors to join them.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.