S&P 500 Closes at 7,768 With a 1.5% Gain Led by Growth Stocks
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on September 21, 2026.
- S&P 500+1.55%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average+0.81%
- Nasdaq Composite+2.33%
Money moved decisively back into growth today: the Nasdaq's 2.33% gain was nearly triple the Dow's, with the S&P 500 finishing above 7,768. Anyone sitting in defensive names gave up most of the rally.
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The S&P 500 closed at 7,768.43, a gain of roughly 1.5% on the session. The bulk of the advance came in the final two hours of trading.
The Nasdaq Composite's 2.33% rise showed where the buying pressure was concentrated. That gain was nearly triple the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 0.81% advance, a spread that points squarely at technology and other growth-oriented names.
For investors who tilted toward value or defensive holdings, the session was largely a missed opportunity. The body of the move was in growth, and anyone positioned away from that end of the market captured only a fraction of the day's upside, if any at all.
The divergence between the Nasdaq and the Dow is the number worth watching as the week continues. When growth outpaces value by that margin in a single session, it often reflects a shift in rate expectations, risk appetite, or both, though today's session does not pin down a single cause.