NEW YORK, July 15, 2026, 12:09 EDT
U.S. stocks moved up early Wednesday, with a notable split in the Nasdaq. The Composite was up 0.44%, but the Nasdaq-100 slipped 0.49%. That’s a gap of 0.93 percentage points. The S&P 500 added 0.25%. The Dow rose 0.35% as of 11:38 a.m. EDT.
The gap stands out with the S&P 500 up over 10% for the year and trading near its June high. The Nasdaq-100, tracking 100 big Nasdaq-listed nonfinancials, lost ground, while the Russell 2000 added 0.42%. More stocks rose than fell, with advancers beating decliners 4,567 to 2,575, or about 1.77 to 1. That shows buyers are more active below the main indexes.
As of 11:38 a.m. EDT, this was the split; the breadth numbers were refreshed close to midday.
| Market gauge | Move |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | up 0.44% |
| Russell 2000 | gained 0.42% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | rose 0.35% |
| S&P 500 | added 0.25% |
| Nasdaq-100 | fell 0.49% |
| Advancers versus decliners | 4,567 beat 2,575 |
Stocks moved after a second weak inflation number in as many days. The producer-price index fell 0.3% in June, while Wall Street had expected it to be flat. Core PPI, which strips out food, energy and trade services, was up 0.1%. The day before, consumer prices dropped 0.4% in June.
Traders in rate futures now see about a 10% chance of a Fed hike at the next meeting, down from close to 42% on Monday. The 10-year Treasury yield moved lower to 4.55%. New York Fed President John Williams said he sees “encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters.” AP News
Financials added to the day’s gains, with S&P 500 financials up 0.6%. BlackRock NYSE:BLK, BNY NYSE:BNY, and Morgan Stanley NYSE:MS all showed rising asset values and new inflows helping drive up fees. More deal activity also helped underwriting. Asset numbers can’t be compared directly across the firms, but the trend is similar.
| Firm | Client-asset or flow signal | Profit result | Stock move around 11:51 EDT |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | Assets under management rose to $15.34 trillion from $12.53 trillion last year; net inflows hit $192 billion, up from $68 billion | Adjusted EPS landed at $13.91, above the $12.59 estimate | +7.3% |
| BNY | Custody and administration assets climbed 12% to $62.6 trillion; fee revenue increased 11% to $4.04 billion | Adjusted EPS came in at $2.46 versus a $2.22 estimate | +2.9% |
| Morgan Stanley | Wealth-management assets hit $10 trillion; net new assets added up to $148 billion | EPS was $3.46 versus a $2.94 estimate | -0.7% |
Investors separated the winners. BlackRock and BNY shares climbed after both firms put up beats, helped by bigger asset bases and growing fee pools. Morgan Stanley fell, even though it posted record revenue of $21.35 billion. The moves point to the market giving more value to reliable asset-driven income than to a quarter padded by trading and deals, though it’s just one session’s worth of data.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a statement, “The scale and depth of our client relationships globally have never been greater.” BNY CEO Robin Vince told Reuters, “The fundamental drivers of capital markets have been broadly constructive. Corporate earnings have been resilient.” But those views are tied to markets remaining busy. Reuters
Morgan Stanley’s revenue was driven by deal activity. Investment banking brought in $2.44 billion, up 58%. CFO Sharon Yeshaya said IPOs drove the uptick in wealth inflows. “More than half of the $148 billion in net new assets came from stock plan IPO flows,” she said. Reuters
Still, inflation data showed a soft spot. Final-demand energy prices slid 6.4% in June, with gasoline off 12%. That made up almost two-thirds of the drop in goods. Brent crude hit $86 for a short time Wednesday after the Iran conflict, then fell back to $83.37. Another oil jump could drive up inflation hopes and push yields higher again. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh warned one good print isn’t enough to call it over.
The tape’s sending mixed signals at the moment. More stocks outside the big Nasdaq names are rising, and traders are buying into companies that make steady fees from trading. Oil prices and the coming round of earnings could decide if the gains stick or not.
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