Thursday, Sep 24, 2026, then tomorrow

All four major indices closed fractionally lower in a near-flat tape: S&P 500 -0.08% to 767.29, Nasdaq 100 -0.01% to 741.09, Dow -0.34% to 512.70, Russell 2000 -0.12% to 281.65. Breadth was poor with only 3 of 11 sectors green. The session had a sharp morning selloff that was pared after reports that US and Iranian negotiators are discussing a phased deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. On the negative side, Oracle (ORCL) Project Jupiter data center delays pressured AI infrastructure names including Dell (DELL), Arm (ARM), and Blue Owl (OWL); Broadcom (AVGO) fell on China regulatory scrutiny reports; treasury yields hitting 5% drove $3.3 billion in weekly outflows from IWM and the Russell 2000 is down 7.3% from its mid-August level. Communication Services (XLC, +1.25%) led on the GoDaddy (GDDY) takeover approach by Gen Digital (GEN), sending GDDY up more than 5%, plus strength in AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) on Google (GOOGL) Project Suncatcher and Meta (META) speculation. Materials (XLB, -1.15%) was the drag, and VIX jumped 1.46 points to 15.67. The Hormuz negotiation headline and the yield-at-5% small-cap pressure both carry into tomorrow.