U.S. stocks finished mixed on September 24. The S&P 500 edged lower and the Nasdaq 100 posted a small gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined.
Markets recovered from intraday lows at times, with the major indexes moving in different directions. Reuters reported that uncertainty surrounding the Middle East pushed oil prices and Treasury yields higher, weighing on equities. It also said the 30-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since 2004.
With oil and interest rates in focus, stocks fluctuated through the session and finished mixed across the major indexes. Associated Press coverage
A midday reversal, but the Dow does not catch up
Reading the stock-chart axes approximately in U.S. Eastern time, the major indexes were near their morning lows between about 11 a.m. and noon, then turned higher in the early part of the noon hour. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 moved above their previous-close lines at points, while the Dow's rebound remained below its baseline. Momentum softened during the 1 p.m. hour, followed by another recovery from around 2 p.m. The nearly unchanged S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closes therefore conceal a meaningful intraday contest between sellers and buyers.
The AP market report that day provides the relevant backdrop: swings in oil and pressure from the bond market. My reading is that inflation and interest-rate concerns encouraged the morning selling, while lower share prices brought buyers back to companies with attractive earnings and AI-investment prospects. The midday recovery looks more like renewed demand at adjusted prices than a disappearance of inflation risk.
Recovery strength matters more than a small closing change
The Dow's failure to recover as much as the other two indexes is the key distinction. A broad improvement in confidence would normally have more room to spread across industries. Here, indexes containing large growth companies recovered more of their losses, suggesting a preference for specific earnings-growth opportunities rather than a wholesale endorsement of the economic outlook. Returning to the previous close is not the same as removing caution across the market.
The rolling USD/JPY chart shows an advance, a plateau and a late pullback. Rather than assign an exact currency tick to the stock market's midday turn, the more useful connection is the shared influence of interest rates on equity valuations and dollar demand. The session's distinctive feature is the unequal ability to recover from the morning selloff. Whether the Dow catches up in the following session would help distinguish broader participation from a recovery concentrated in growth stocks. Another test is whether the recovered previous-close area holds on the next dip. A flat daily change can still conceal improving demand if lows stop deteriorating; quickly losing the recovered range would instead suggest a short-lived rebound.
Major Index Closes
- S&P 5007,704.13 −0.02%
- Nasdaq 10030,478.86 ＋0.03%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average51,349.98 −0.31%
