US stocks creep higher; small caps get their day in the sun

The S&P 500 crawled 0.1% higher on Thursday with small caps enjoying a rare day of standout performance.

The Russell 2000 of small-cap US companies bested the S&P 500 by 90 basis points, its biggest outperformance of the month.

Breadth was also positive, ending the streak of sessions where the S&P 500 went one way and the advance-decline line went in the opposite direction. The weirdness of this five-session streak, which tied a record from April 1999, is now over.

Real estate, consumer discretionary, and communication services were the best-performing S&P sector ETFs; consumer staples and materials lagged. Amazon continued its strong run of form with a 2.2% gain, while Meta closed up 1.3%.

Micron fell 7.1% despite reporting better than expected quarterly results, as its guidance was merely in line with, rather than above, analysts’ expectations. Demand for its HBM chips (which support the AI data center build out) is solid, sold out through August 2025, while the outlook for semiconductors for the PC and mobile markets are considerably less rosy. 

Walgreens had its worst day since at least 1980, plummeting 22% after cutting its guidance and announcing tons of store closures would be in the offing.

Chewy spiked as much as 34% after Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, tweeted a picture of a dog. However, the move reversed sharply, with the stock ending down 0.3%.