S&P 500 gains 1.21% for the week as chipmakers rally and the 10-year yield reaches 5.18%
S&P 500 week close: 7,743.41 (+1.21%) Nasdaq Friday close: 27,068.72 (+0.48%) Sentiment: mixed
The S&P 500 rose 1.21% in the week to 25 September 2026, closing at 7,743.41, as Meta's Muse AI agent launch lifted chipmakers while the 10-year Treasury yield climbed 19 bps to 5.184%. GRAL.US gained 57.10% for the week after an FDA advisory committee voted 7 to 2 that the benefits of its Galleri multi-cancer blood test outweigh its risks. The Russell 2000 fell 0.80% as a 58.4 flash composite PMI on 23 September lifted rate-hike bets one week after the Federal Reserve raised its policy rate to 3.75% to 4.00%.
The week on Wall Street
The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.06% in the week to 25 September 2026, closing at 27,068.72, against +0.28% for the Dow and -0.80% for the Russell 2000. SMH.US, the VanEck semiconductor fund, rose 5.86% over the same five sessions, while financials XLF.US fell 1.83%.
The S&P 500 rose 1.49% to 7,764.70 on Monday 21 September, the largest session of the week, and the Nasdaq closed at a record after Meta launched Muse. ARM.US gained 17.16% that day, INTC.US 12.14% and AMD.US 9.95% on data-centre CPU demand. Tuesday closed at 7,764.64, down 0.06 points.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose 15 bps to 5.11% on Wednesday 23 September after the flash PMI, and the S&P 500 fell 0.75% to 7,706.03. Thursday finished at 7,704.13, down 0.02%. MSFT.US gained 3.66% on Friday after Microsoft rebuilt Copilot around a new Autopilot agent, and the index added 0.51%.
For the full week, META.US rose 12.90% to $751.66, INTC.US 13.26%, AMD.US 12.65% and ARM.US 12.59%. MSFT.US added 4.53%, AAPL.US 1.47% and NVDA.US 1.26%, while GOOGL.US fell 1.61% and AMZN.US 1.59%.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
Technology XLK.US gained 3.52% in the week to 25 September 2026, the best of the 11 S&P 500 sector funds, while utilities XLU.US fell 3.87%, the worst.
- Best: technology XLK.US +3.52%; communication services XLC.US +1.94% as META.US +12.90% outweighed GOOGL.US -1.61%.
- Worst: utilities XLU.US -3.87% and energy XLE.US -3.53%. WTI fell 4.28% on Monday on Saudi East-West pipeline repairs and closed Friday at US$92.44.
- XLRE.US -2.28% as the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.45%, its highest in more than two years, per Mortgage News Daily.
- XLF.US -1.83%, with SCHW.US -5.91% after investors marked down brokers and advisers on the Muse launch on Tuesday.
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 7.39 pts.
Top movers: week ending 25 September
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| GRAL.US | +57.10% | FDA panel voted 7 to 2 that Galleri benefits outweigh risks |
| SECZ.US | +46.96% | SEC authorised trading of tokenized securities; record high on 23 September |
| MRNA.US | +29.11% | Melanoma vaccine data won an ESMO Presidential Symposium slot |
| OUST.US | +24.74% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| VKTX.US | +22.66% | VK2735 held 22% average weight loss at week 33 |
| GEN.US | -25.47% | Reported preliminary US$12 billion approach for GoDaddy |
| PBLS.US | -25.23% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. Record close of $41.73 on 18 September |
| ACAD.US | -24.22% | Remlifanserin missed its primary endpoint |
| EMAT.US | -20.40% | New funding round disclosed on 24 September |
| CLDX.US | -18.67% | Phase 3 wins came with two probable Grade 4 anaphylaxis cases |
GRAL.US closed at $126.89, up from $80.77 a week earlier; the FDA's final decision on the Galleri application is still pending. VKTX.US rose 35.67% on Tuesday and gave back 11.76% on Thursday, and PLNT.US fell 13.76% for the week as the weight-loss data revived the threat to gym memberships.
GEN.US fell 12.05% to $23.07 on Thursday after reports of the GoDaddy approach, with about $8 billion of net debt already on Gen Digital's balance sheet. MRNA.US closed at $198.88, a four-year high, after reports of investment talks with the UAE.
Friday US session
The S&P 500 closed at 7,743.41 on Friday 25 September 2026, up 0.51%, with MSFT.US +3.66% to $516.17 worth about 22 bps of the gain.
- S&P 500: 7,743.41 (+0.51%)
- Nasdaq: 27,068.72 (+0.48%)
- Dow: 51,828.62 (+0.93%)
- VIX: 14.87 (-5.11%)
ZS.US fell 10.06% to $193.05 after Zscaler named a new chief revenue officer from 1 October, and S.US -6.67%, OKTA.US -5.54% and PANW.US -3.89% fell with it. COST.US rose 2.93% to $922.76 in its first session after fiscal Q4 net sales grew 11.2% to $93.9 billion and EPS reached $6.75 against a $6.48 consensus. META.US gave back 3.33%.
University of Michigan consumer sentiment finished September at 48.1, against 51.7 in August. The 10-year yield closed Friday at 5.184% and the 30-year at 5.504%.
Macro themes that played out
Flash US composite PMI printed 58.4 on 23 September, against 56.0 in August and the highest since July 2021, one week after the Federal Reserve raised its policy rate a quarter point to 3.75% to 4.00% on 16 September. Services reached 58.7 and manufacturing 56.7. Initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to 197,000 on 24 September.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose from 4.998% on 18 September to 5.184% on 25 September and touched 5.23% during the week, its highest since June 2007. The 5-year yield reached 5.00% after a weak auction on Wednesday, and the 2-year topped 4.90%. The US Dollar Index rose 0.81% to 101.04.
EXPE.US fell 5.43% for the week and ABNB.US 5.26% after Meta's Muse agent began booking flights and hotels for users, and SCHW.US lost 5.91%. MU.US rose 6.54% to $1,082.28 ahead of its results on 30 September, one of the memory and CPU suppliers that investors bid up on the same launch.
Week ahead: Mon to Fri (ET)
- Mon 28 Sep: no scheduled top-tier US data; the 10-year yield enters the week at 5.184%.
- Tue 29 Sep, 10:00am: September Conference Board consumer confidence and August JOLTS job openings; CCL.US reports fiscal Q3 results.
- Wed 30 Sep, 8:30am: August PCE price index, personal income and final Q2 GDP, after July PCE ran 3.7% headline and 3.3% core year on year. ADP employment at 8:15am, Chicago PMI at 9:45am, and MU.US fiscal Q4 results after the close.
- Thu 1 Oct, 10:00am: September ISM manufacturing, after initial jobless claims at 8:30am. NKE.US and MKC.US report.
- Fri 2 Oct, 8:30am: September payrolls, with consensus at 85,000 against 162,000 in August and the unemployment rate expected to hold at 4.1%.
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