NEW YORK, July 16, 2026, 12:06 p.m. EDT — U.S. equities opened for cash trading while tech stocks lagged.
- As of 11:54 a.m. EDT, the S&P 500 was down 0.12% at 7,563.13. The Nasdaq slipped 0.65%. The Dow rose 0.21%. The Russell 2000 gained 0.43%.
- The equal-weight S&P proxy added 0.79%. The main cap-weighted version slipped 0.21%.
S&P 500 dipped Thursday with tech weighing on the index. Ten of eleven sectors gained, but technology losses took the benchmark below flat.
The split moves are more important than the minor index drop. This looks like traders rotating out of semis, not a big move out of U.S. stocks.
Concentration is making the moves bigger. Tech made up 39.6% of the S&P 500 in a June analysis. In an equal-weight version, every stock gets about 0.2%.
The spread jumped during the morning session. Prices listed below are from around 11:48 a.m. EDT.
| Market slice | Listed instrument | Price | Day move |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 cap-weighted | S&P 500 ETF NYSEARCA:SPY | $753.26 | -0.21% |
| S&P 500 equal-weight | Equal-weight ETF NYSEARCA:RSP | $214.65 | +0.79% |
| Nasdaq-100 | Nasdaq-100 ETF NASDAQ:QQQ | $709.67 | -1.12% |
| Tech | Technology-sector ETF (NYSEARCA:XLK) | $177.52 | -2.24% |
| Financials | Financial-sector ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) | $56.62 | +0.10% |
The equal-weight fund outperformed SPY by 0.99 point. Financials led technology by 2.33 points. That was the biggest breadth move of the day.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. NYSE:TSM dropped 2.2% to $410.36. Still, the chipmaker posted $40.2 billion in second-quarter revenue. Net income jumped 77.4% year over year.
Memory stocks took a bigger hit. Micron Technology Inc. NASDAQ:MU lost 6.1%, while Western Digital Corp. NASDAQ:WDC dropped 9.1%.
“The chip rally is cooling off,” said Shiraz Ahmed, CEO and founder at Sartorial Wealth. Ahmed said AI adoption is still spotty, though companies keep spending on infrastructure. Reuters
UnitedHealth Group Inc. NYSE:UNH advanced, up roughly 4% after it lifted its 2026 outlook. The new forecast for adjusted earnings is $19.50 to $20.00 a share.
Chief Executive Stephen Hemsley said the company is making “continuing progress” in its operations. Investors liked the update. TSMC shares fell even after a strong quarter. UnitedHealth Group
Macro numbers helped the market. The Census Bureau said advance retail sales for June came in at $768.6 billion, a 0.2% increase. Initial jobless claims dropped to 208,000, according to the Labor Department.
Producer prices dropped 0.3% in June, the data out Wednesday showed, coming in below forecasts for no change. That gave markets some relief on rates as labor numbers held steady.
Investors watch breadth for confirmation. If RSP and Russell 2000 keep rising, the rotation view gets a boost. If QQQ takes the lead again, that case fades.
Risks: This snapshot covers only intraday moves. Chip stocks can change direction fast. Rising oil or new U.S.-Iran tension could wipe out market gains.
