Small caps keep surging, S&P 500 closes at record as everything but tech goes up

The S&P 500 booked a solid 0.6% advance to close at a fresh record high. 446 constituents gained — the second-best day for breadth this year.

The Nasdaq 100, however, inched up just 0.1% while the Russell 2000 Index gained a whopping 3.5%, its fifth straight gain of 1% or more.

It’s now the largest five-day outperformance of small caps versus the S&P 500 on record, and their best showing versus the Nasdaq 100 since 2001, as the dot-com bubble was bursting.

Every S&P sector ETF was positive except for tech, with industrials leading the way with a 2.5% gain.

Bank of America enjoyed its best day of 2024, up 5.3% on profits that beat estimates and an outlook for net interest income that was rosier than Wall Street anticipated.

UnitedHealth posted strong quarterly results that surpassed expectations despite elevated costs, sending shares up 6.5% for their best day in over a year.

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Luke Kawa

Oil spikes, equity futures retreat as President Trump commits to hitting Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks

The ongoing war threatens to bring about an even more pronounced disruption to energy supplies, with negative ramifications for economic activity and financial markets.

President Trump Addresses The Nation On The Conflict In Iran

Tasha Matsumoto

Stocks continue to climb on hopes of an end to the war

Stocks rallied and oil fell as traders digested comments from President Trump.

Going

Stag?

Matt Phillips11h

Rani Molla13h

SpaceX reportedly files confidentially for IPO

SpaceX confidentially filed its draft IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter, the next step toward what is expected to be a blockbuster summer listing.

Elon Musk’s satellite and rocket company could raise around $75 billion in an IPO that would value it at more than $1.75 trillion — both records — though the exact amounts won’t be settled until it goes public, likely in June.

Another notable thing about this IPO: the portion of shares committed to individual investors is expected to be much higher than in traditional IPOs — per Reuters, up to 30%, versus the typical 10% — a move that could broaden retail participation in one of the most anticipated public offerings ever.

SpaceX Has Filed Confidentially for IPO Ahead of AI Rivals

Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Combine with xAI Ahead of Mega IPO

Matt Phillips14h

Energy stocks tumble after massive March

Energy and chemical stocks tumbled early Wednesday on growing expectations that the US participation in the Iran war is nearing an end, and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures slipped back below $100 a barrel.

LyondellBasell, APA Corporation, Dow, Inc., CF Industries, and Marathon Petroleum — the S&P 500’s top 5 gainers last month — all sank.

Natural gas drillers EOG Resources, Devon Energy, Coterra Energy, and Diamondback Energy dropped, as did integrated oil giants Exxon and Chevron. Fuel refiners and marketers such as Phillips 66 and Valero also fell.

Don’t shed too many tears for these energy giants; the S&P 500 energy sector rose 10% in March and 37% in Q1 2026.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund is coming off its second-best quarter on record relative to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, based on data going back to 1999.

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