The index fell, but chips rose

Today's Market

Aug 31 (ET) — the S&P 500 closed -0.6%, with small caps down -2.0%, more than triple the index decline

• Large-cap indexes held their losses under 1% — S&P 500 -0.6%, Nasdaq -0.6%, Dow -0.7%

• 8 of 11 sectors fell and only 3 rose, leaving the decline broadly spread across the market

• Qualcomm (QCOM) +3.8% and other chip names closed higher despite broad tech weakness, confirming divergence within the group

Market Data

S&P 500

7,686.14

▼0.58%

NASDAQ

26,370.89

▼0.64%

DOW

53,185.90

▼0.72%

VIX

14.92

▲2.83%

Sector Heat Map

SPY benchmark + 11 GICS sectors · 1-day

S&P 500 SPY −0.30%	Technology XLK −1.12%	Comm. Svcs XLC +0.04%	Cons. Discr. XLY +0.61%
Cons. Staples XLP −0.12%	Energy XLE +2.04%	Financials XLF −0.67%	Health Care XLV −0.36%
Industrials XLI −2.05%	Materials XLB −1.01%	Real Estate XLRE −0.83%	Utilities XLU −2.20%

Today's Focus

A decline that reached the defensive sectors

Utilities the worst sector, with cyclicals weak alongside

• Utilities -2.2%, the steepest sector loss, with a normally defensive group leading the market down

• On top of that, Industrials -2.0% and Materials -1.0% carried the selling into cyclicals

• That said, even with Energy +2.0% and Consumer Discretionary +0.6% higher, a rising VIX pointed to risk appetite in retreat

• Broadcom (AVGO) earnings on 9/2 (EPS est. $3.24) are the test of where tech goes next

Direction split inside tech

Security names higher, software and platforms lower

• CrowdStrike (CRWD) +5.8% and Palo Alto (PANW) +2.8% rose together among security names

• That said, Uber (UBER) -4.0% was the day's steepest decliner and Workday (WDAY) -3.5% fell in software

• On top of that, Tesla (TSLA) +5.5% led Consumer Discretionary higher

Inside the Ticker

Tim Cook's Final Day and Phil Schiller's Role Shift Open Apple's Next Era

Apple AAPL | $316.85 | 1D −0.9% 1W +2.1% 1M +2.7% 3M +3.5%

What happened today

A leadership handover and a role reshuffle landed on the same day

• Tim Cook's final day as Apple CEO; the headline puts the handover at $4.67T

• Reports that longtime Apple figure Phil Schiller is stepping back from App Store and product-event roles

• The successor's name, the handover terms and Schiller's new role are unconfirmed from the headlines provided

What to watch next

Strategy, not the personnel change, is what matters

• The new CEO's first public message and the product-service priorities the next launch reveals

• Who takes the App Store and product-event roles, and how they message — though these reports alone do not establish a policy change

This Week

ALL TIMES EASTERN (ET)

• Tue 9/1 JOLTs (Job Openings)

• Wed 9/2 ADP Employment

• Wed 9/2 AVGO earnings | EPS est $3.24

• Thu 9/3 Initial Jobless Claims

• Thu 9/3 Trade Balance

• Fri 9/4 Employment Situation (NFP)

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice. All investment decisions are your own responsibility.

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