S&P 500 down 0.76% — Market Pulse · Sep 23, 2026

Stocks gave back part of Monday’s advance on Sept. 23, and the damage under the surface was heavier than the headline index moves suggest. The S&P 500 fell 58.67 points to 7706.03, the Dow dropped 537.24 to 51511.59, the Nasdaq Composite lost 186.05 to 26936.04, and the Russell 2000 sank 36.70 to 2838.66.

Key Takeaways

• S&P 500 closed down 0.76% at 7,706.03.
• Market breadth finished with 18 advancers, 42 decliners, and a 0.429 advance/decline ratio.
• Energy led sectors at +0.96%, while Financials lagged at -0.47%.
• VIX ended at 15.18 in the latest five-session lookback.
• SPY’s first resistance is 774.84 and first support is 772.32.

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Market Breadth: Rates pressure stocks as weak breadth outweighs a still-calm volatility backdrop

Metric	Sep 16	Sep 17	Sep 18	Sep 21	Sep 23
Advance/Decline Ratio	0.478	1.451	0.451	1.397	0.429
Advances	162	296	156	292	18
Declines	339	204	346	209	42
Advancing Volume	36.9%	68.8%	30.3%	70.6%	11.0%
Stocks Near 52-Week Highs	5	10	4	7	7
Stocks Near 52-Week Lows	22	15	25	11	21
% Above 20-Day MA	19.5%	22.1%	20.3%	26.6%	5.6%
% Above 50-Day MA	32.8%	32.0%	29.2%	31.2%	5.6%
% Above 200-Day MA	53.9%	53.9%	52.9%	52.7%	6.8%

Breadth was notably weak. Advancers trailed decliners 18 to 42, the advance-decline ratio was 0.429, and advancing volume was just 11.04%. Only 5.57% of stocks were above their 20-day moving average, 5.57% were above the 50-day, and 6.76% were above the 200-day. That marked a sharp drop from Sept. 21, when 26.64% were above the 20-day, 31.21% were above the 50-day, and 52.68% were above the 200-day.

Explore the full dashboard: Market breadth.

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Market Performance: Major Indexes

Index	Close	Change	% Change
S&P 500	7,706.03	-58.67	-0.76%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	51,511.59	-537.24	-1.03%
Nasdaq Composite	26,936.04	-186.05	-0.69%
Russell 2000	2,838.66	-36.70	-1.28%

Five-session context:

Index	Sep 16	Sep 17	Sep 18	Sep 21	Sep 23
S&P 500	-0.45%	+1.14%	+0.17%	+1.49%	-0.76%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	-1.21%	+0.61%	-0.18%	+0.71%	-1.03%
Nasdaq Composite	-0.01%	+1.69%	+0.39%	+2.26%	-0.69%
Russell 2000	-0.40%	+0.55%	-0.50%	+0.52%	-1.28%

All four major indexes finished lower, but the pullback was not uniform. The Russell 2000 posted the largest decline at 1.28%, followed by the Dow at 1.03%, the S&P 500 at 0.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite at 0.69%. Even with the setback, the five-session path still shows a strong run into Monday, including a 1.49% gain in the S&P 500 and a 2.26% gain in the Nasdaq Composite on Sept. 21.

Explore the full dashboard: Market snapshot.

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Sector View: Leaders and Laggards

• Leaders: Energy (XLE +0.96%), Financials (XLF -0.47%)
• Laggards: Financials (XLF -0.47%), Energy (XLE +0.96%)

The sector snapshot was limited, but it still showed dispersion. Energy, via XLE, rose 0.96% to 62.37, while Financials, via XLF, slipped 0.47% to 54.54. With only those two sector readings supplied, the bigger message came from index and breadth weakness rather than broad sector rotation data.

Explore the full dashboard: Sector performance.

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Volatility: VIX and ETF Implied Volatility

Metric	Sep 16	Sep 17	Sep 18	Sep 21	Sep 23
VIX Level	17.71	15.44	14.81	14.87	15.18

• SPY IV: 10.13% (Low)
• QQQ IV: 15.61% (Normal)
• IWM IV: 15.76% (Normal)
• DIA IV: 11.35% (Low)

Volatility picked up, but not dramatically. The VIX closed at 15.18 after 14.87 on Sept. 21, and five-session data show it remains below the 17.71 close from Sept. 16. Options pricing also looked contained: SPY implied volatility averaged 10.13% and was labeled Low, DIA was 11.35% and also Low, while QQQ at 15.61% and IWM at 15.76% were labeled Normal.

Explore the full dashboard: Volatility.

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Headlines Moving Markets

The supplied catalyst list centered on rates and the dollar. Reuters highlighted that US stocks fell as the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007, while another Reuters item pointed to a stronger dollar tied to the Fed outlook and inflation concern. The package also included the Sept. 16 FOMC statement and economic projections, keeping policy expectations in focus as markets absorbed the selloff.

• US stocks fall as 10-year Treasury yield hits highest since 2007 - Reuters
• Dollar jumps to near two-month high on Fed outlook, inflation concern - reuters.com
• Gold loses shine as rate hike bets foster a stronger dollar - reuters.com
• Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement
• Federal Reserve Board and Federal Open Market Committee release economic projections from the September 15-16 FOMC meeting
• Iran, US still far apart in peace talks, Iranian official says; Pezeshkian vows no surrender - reuters.com
• Iran’s Pezeshkian accuses Trump of ‘bullying mentality,’ vows no surrender - reuters.com
• Bond yields spike and stocks drop — plus, why Boeing is bucking the trend
• Nasdaq hits intraday record high on tech boost, Mideast negotiation hopes - Reuters
• GDP (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits, 2nd Quarter 2026
• Personal Income and Outlays, July 2026
• Personal Income and Outlays, June 2026

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Technical Snapshot (SPY)

Level	Sep 16	Sep 17	Sep 18	Sep 21	Sep 23
20-day SMA	763.40	762.74	762.42	762.46	—
50-day SMA	757.14	757.27	757.61	757.85	—
200-day SMA	711.18	711.57	712.00	712.44	—

Near-term pivot structure, based on 2026-09-22:

• Resistance: 774.84 (R1), then 776.24 (R2)
• Pivot: 773.72
• Support: 772.32 (S1), then 771.21 (S2)

For SPY, the Sept. 22 traditional pivot sat at 773.72, with support at 772.32 and 771.21, and resistance at 774.84 and 776.24. Fibonacci support levels were 772.76 and 772.17. The trend backdrop remained constructive on the moving averages, with the 20-day at 763.54, the 50-day at 758.78, and the 200-day at 713.42, though the very weak participation numbers suggest fewer stocks are confirming that index-level structure.

Explore the full dashboard: Support & Resistance levels.

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What to Watch Next

• Breadth rebound or further erosion after advancing volume collapsed to 11.04%.
• SPY around the 773.72 pivot, especially 772.32 to 771.21 on the downside and 774.84 to 776.24 above.
• Small caps. The Russell 2000 fell 1.28%, the weakest of the major indexes.
• Whether the VIX holds near 15.18 or starts to move more sharply after the rate-driven headlines.
• Institutional positioning remains mixed but net bullish in the included flow data: options whale call premium totaled 167977043 versus 98677595 in puts, and stock whale net buy value was 3627793429.090576.

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Bottom Line

Sept. 23 looked like more than a routine dip under the surface. Index losses were moderate, but breadth, volume participation, and small-cap weakness all deteriorated sharply. At the same time, volatility stayed relatively contained, which leaves the next test fairly clear: whether internals can stabilize quickly enough to confirm support near key SPY levels.

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Market Pulse provides daily analysis of S&P 500 market breadth, sector rotation, and volatility signals to help investors understand what’s happening beneath the surface. Data sourced from our real-time market breadth collectors. For personalized planning, explore our retirement calculators, investment tools, and FIRE planning resources.

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