Small-cap stocks drive US market higher

Wall Street ended the session in positive territory, with gains spreading beyond the largest technology shares. The Russell 2000 outperformed, advancing 1.13%, while the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted more modest increases. The Nasdaq 100 lagged with a 0.23% rise. That performance gap reflected a day when buying interest spread into smaller companies and other sectors beyond tech.

The closing levels were as follows:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 53,067.32, up 295.05 points, or 0.56%.

• The S&P 500 ended at 7,666.69, a gain of 35.21 points, or 0.46%.

• The Nasdaq Composite finished at 26,217.83, up 118.05 points, or 0.45%.

• The Russell 2000 closed at 2,953.18, up33.05 points, or1.13%.

• The Nasdaq 100 settled at 29,143.33, a rise of66.11 points, or 0.23%.

Among the notable gainers, several groups stood out:

• Technology and AI infrastructure: Dell Technologies surged 15.27% after reporting quarterly results that topped expectations and raising its outlook. Oracle advanced 3.29% and Nvidia rose 3.19%, reflecting continued demand for computing and AI-related stocks.

• Fintech and trading platforms: Block gained 5.96%, SoFi jumped 4.90%, PayPal rose 3.65% and Robinhood added 3.19%. This was one of the clearest clusters of strength among the listed winners.

• Consumer spending and travel: Best Buy gained 5.40%, United Airlines rose 3.98% despite oil prices staying above $90, and Lyft added 3.64%.

• Industrials and agriculture: Worthington Industries advanced 5.96%, Deere gained 3.35% and fertilizer producer CF Industries rose 3.11%.

There were also significaant pockets of weakness:

• Cybersecuriy: Palo Alto Networks fell 9.30%, CrowdStrike declined 5.44% and Fortinet lost 4.54%. The First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF dropped 2.73%, showing the weakness was broad across the sector.

• High-groth software and AI: Credo Technology plunged 20 02% after earnings failed to impress, Datadog fell 6.56%, Palantir declined5.80% and Snowflake lost4.12%. Those declines help explain why the Nasdaq 100 lagged despite strong gains in Dell, Nvidia and Oracle.

• Transportation: FedEx fell2.58%, providing a downside contrast to the strength in United Airlines and Lyft.

The overall market ended higher, but the picture beneath the surface was mixed. Smaller companies, fintech stocks, selected AI infrastructure names and industrial shares attracted buyers, while cybersecurity and high-valuation software stocks came under pressure. The Russell 2000’s outperformance nevertheless suggests that the day’s buying extended beyond a handful of large technology companies.