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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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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