Chipmakers led a rally that lifted the Composite to an intraday high of 27,353.68 after the jobs report. Beneath the index, new lows outnumbered new highs nearly three to one.
Equity · FinancialMarkets.com · October 2, 2026 · Tickers: QQQ, SOXX, NVDA, ARM, RSP, IWM
The Nasdaq Composite reached a record on Friday. Most stocks did not come along.
The index touched an intraday high of 27,353.68 after the September jobs report weakened bets on an October rate increase, and traded near 27,176 at about 2 p.m. Eastern, up 1.1%. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% at about 7,720, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 209 points to 51,136, and the Russell 2000 added about 27 points to 2,834. The Cboe Volatility Index eased to 15.61.
The leaders
Semiconductors did most of the lifting. The iShares Semiconductor ETF was up about 2.1% in the afternoon, after the broader chip index had been up about 3.1% in the morning. Nvidia rose about 1.7% and reached a 52-week high of $237.87, with Morgan Stanley naming it a top pick. Arm Holdings gained about 5.6% to $308.69.
Smaller chip stocks moved further, trading as a group. Wolfspeed and Vishay Intertechnology were each up roughly 12.5%, and MaxLinear and ChipMOS about 14%.
The breadth
The rest of the market looks different. Only about 21% of S&P 500 members trade above their 50-day moving averages, and about 40% above their 200-day averages, according to Charles Schwab. On the Nasdaq, 35 stocks set new 52-week highs during the session, against 100 that set new lows. The equal-weighted S&P 500, which gives each member the same weight regardless of size, was headed for a seventh straight weekly loss.
A record in a capitalization-weighted index with that internal profile means a small group of very large companies is carrying the benchmark. On Friday that group was chip designers and the AI infrastructure trade around them.
The rate backdrop
The rally came with the 10-year Treasury yield higher on the day, near 5.28% in the afternoon. Long-duration growth stocks are usually the most sensitive to rising long rates, since more of their value sits in earnings far in the future. Friday's leadership came from exactly that group while long yields rose.
What would change it
The share of S&P 500 stocks above their 50-day averages is the measure to follow. A move back toward half would show the rally spreading. A further decline while the Nasdaq holds its high would show it narrowing. Next week's Treasury auctions, and whether long yields keep rising, are the near-term test for the leaders.