Wall Street rises on a broad rally led by small caps and healthcare as tech stalls

The S&P 500 added 0.28% to 7,713 and the Dow gained 1.02%, with the Russell 2000 up 1.67% and healthcare at a record, while AI credit-default insurance stayed near record highs ahead of Meta's results.

Deepakshi Sharma

Kristal Research

21 Oct

Key takeaways — AI summary

The S&P 500 rose 0.28% to 7,713 and the Dow gained 1.02% to 52,497, but the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.02% as Meta and Alphabet lagged; the Russell 2000 jumped 1.67% in the broadest rally since June, with about three in four S&P 500 stocks higher.
Healthcare climbed 2.34% to a record high led by Eli Lilly, while real estate, utilities and financials each rose more than 1%; communication services fell 0.89% and technology slipped 0.34%.
Oil swung sharply on US-Iran headlines: WTI touched $101.37, dropped to $95.25, then settled at $97.82 (down 0.7%); Brent settled at $108.78. A person close to the talks called reports of a near deal 'wrong.'
Weak housing data lifted bonds: pending home sales fell 7.3% in September (versus a 0.5% dip expected), the lowest since records began in 2001, and the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 5.12% from its 5.36% peak on October 8. Gold edged down to $4,123.
Stocks shook off last week's AI scare, but the credit market has not: the cost of insuring the debt of Meta, Nvidia and Alphabet against default hit records this month, with the document noting the AI basket now trades about 0.45 points wider than the broad investment-grade market.

Generated by Kristal AI · reviewed by the research desk

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