S&P 500 goes nowhere, Nasdaq 100 hits another record, small caps tumble

Warner Bros. Discovery led gains for the second day in a row, and only three S&P 500 sector ETFs finished in the green.

Your Evening Briefing September 12, 2025 S&P 500 goes nowhere, Nasdaq 100 hits another record, small caps tumble The good: the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% to close at a record high for three consecutive sessions, the first time that's happened since late July. The meh: the S&P 500 finished down less than 0.1%. And the ugly: the Russell 2000 sank 1%. Only three S&P 500 sector ETFs finished in the green: communication services, consumer discretionary, and utilities. Health care and utilities were the worst performers. Warner Bros. Discovery led gains for the second day in a row, jumping 16.8% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount Skydance is preparing a takeover bid for the media giant. Declines were led by Moderna, which sank 7.4% after The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration plans to link the coronavirus vaccine to 25 child deaths. Shares of Pfizer were also down 3.9%. Elsewhere… Tesla shares leapt 7.4% following reports that the EV maker now has a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in Nevada. Microsoft rose 1.8% after the tech giant and OpenAI announced a "non-binding memorandum of understanding" for their renegotiated $13 billion partnership, which had been a source of recent tension between the two companies. Super Micro Computer jumped 2.4% after the company announced it has started shipping "Plug-and-Play (PnP)-ready" racks powered by Nvidia's new Blackwell Ultra chip. Six Flags popped 7.8% after the amusement park operator reported a rebound in attendance and early season-pass sales heading into the fall. Restoration Hardware fell 4.7% after the luxury furniture brand missed Q2 estimates and tightened its full-year outlook, as tariffs and housing market softness squeezed margins. Rivian shares dropped 3.7% after the EV maker recalled 24,214 vehicles due to a software issue. — Luke Kawa, Markets Editor & Nia Warfield, Markets Writer Electricity inflation hits highest level in two years as AI boom rumbles on Is your power bill going to kill the AI trade?  Read more. How SharkNinja convinces you that you absolutely need its viral household gizmos The company is developing products at lightning speed and using TikTok like it's the QVC of the next generation. Read more. More than 40% of American adults now report being online "almost constantly." The new survey showed Japan has the greatest share of perpetually online people, though. Read more.  How crypto is creeping into the home mortgage market  Concerns about rising government debt are not strictly an American problem Bitcoin ETFs saw $1.7 billion in inflows this week Shake Shack is launching a French onion soup... burger  Was this email forwarded to you? Don't miss out on future stories — subscribe to The Wrap and get your daily dose of financial news straight to your inbox.  Craving more insights in your inbox? Subscribe to Chartr and Snacks for quality reads. We care what you think! If you have any feedback or comments, feel free to reply and let us know your thoughts!  Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more Sherwood Terms and Conditions Our Editorial Standards Contact Us Advertise With Us Unsubscribe Privacy Policy SHERWOOD MEDIA, LLC, 85 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025