The S&P 500 gained about 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose roughly 0.7% and reached a fresh record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped around 0.2%, highlighting the gap between technology leaders and more traditional parts of the market.
Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla all gained more than 1%, while software stocks also outperformed. The strength extended the same AI rally that has repeatedly helped the S&P 500 withstand rising borrowing costs.
Big Tech Is Still Carrying the Market
The headline index remains resilient, but the rally underneath it is much less convincing.
MarketWatch reported that technology and communication-services stocks provided much of Monday’s support, with Alphabet and Meta playing an outsized role in the latter sector. Several other areas of the market struggled to keep pace.
That continues a broader divergence already visible in September. Roughly 78% of S&P 500 stocks declined during the month, even though the index itself remained relatively close to record territory. Our look at market breadth showed how a handful of mega-cap companies can keep a market-cap-weighted index elevated while most individual stocks weaken.
The Russell 3000 tells a similar story. More than half of its members have fallen at least 20% from their June levels, according to Morgan Stanley research cited by MarketWatch.
5.3% Treasury Yield Adds Another Test
The rally is also happening against an unusually difficult bond-market backdrop.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to roughly 5.30%, near its highest level since 2002, as investors continued to price persistent inflation, heavy government borrowing and elevated energy costs.
Normally, higher yields are particularly challenging for growth stocks because they reduce the present value of future profits. Coinpaper’s yield guide explains why highly valued technology companies are usually among the most rate-sensitive parts of the market.
