Nasdaq Slides as Small-Cap Stress Deepens

The S&P 500 fell 1.10% on the day, hovering precariously near its 50-day moving average, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average proved more resilient with a modest 0.29% decline. Commodities showed a stark divergence as gold and silver prices retreated, while WTI crude climbed 1.36% to $95.42 a barrel, extending its year-to-date gains to over 66%. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked upward to 5.25%, adding further pressure to equity valuations.

Corporate developments underscored a shift toward defense and innovation. Raytheon secured a $6.3 billion contract for Standard Missile-3 production, and Lockheed Martin unveiled its PAC-3 Edge interceptor. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly reported promising biomarker data for its Taltz and Zepbound combination therapy, and IBM advanced to the third phase of DARPA’s quantum computing initiative. In the retail sector, Alimentation Couche-Tard moved to expand its footprint by acquiring retail assets from Irving Oil in Quebec and Ontario.