S&P 500 Closes Down 0.26% as Nasdaq Leads the Afternoon Slide

As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on August 28, 2026.

CLOSING BELL
U.S. Markets
  • S&P 500-0.26%
  • Nasdaq Composite-0.50%

Growth names took the harder hit into the weekend, with the Nasdaq down 0.50% while the S&P 500 held up better. That gap is the market repricing a September Fed hike that was unthinkable a month ago.

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Sellers took control in the afternoon and pushed the index to a close of 7,710.33.

Growth stocks bore the brunt of the late-day selling. The Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.50%, nearly double the S&P 500's decline, a gap that signals investors are specifically reassessing the richly valued technology and growth names that have led the market higher.

The market is repricing the odds of a September Fed rate hike, a scenario considered remote just a month ago, and higher-for-longer rates hit long-duration growth stocks hardest.

Heading into the weekend with that repricing underway, the level of conviction behind any near-term rally in growth names is the key thing to watch. A further widening of the gap between the Nasdaq and the broader S&P 500 would signal the rate-hike concern is deepening.