Three major US stock indexes post record closing highs on the same day for the first time since November 2021

The record close for the small cap Russell 2000 was its first since November 2021, which means it's also the first time in nearly four years that all three major indexes closed at fresh peaks on the same day.

Your Evening Briefing September 18, 2025 Three major US stock indexes post record closing highs on the same day for the first time since November 2021 The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all posted fresh closing highs on Thursday. The benchmark US stock index ended 0.5% higher, the Nasdaq 100 rallied 1%, and the Russell 2000 far outperformed with a 2.5% advance. Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel, and small cap stocks love Federal Reserve rate cuts. The record close for the small cap Russell 2000 was its first since November 2021, which means it's also the first time in nearly four years that all three major indexes closed at fresh peaks on the same day. Tech was far and away the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, while consumer staples was at the bottom of the leaderboard. Gains on the day were led by Intel, which jumped 22.8%, its biggest one-day advance since 1987, after Nvidia said it would buy $5 billion worth of Intel stock as part of a broader partnership to co-develop data center and PC products. The news was a blow to Advanced Micro Devices, which was down big early but recovered to finish off just 0.8%. Elsewhere… Declines were led in part by Darden Restaurants, which fell 7.7% after the Olive Garden and LongHorn parent company's Q1 results came in lighter than expected. CrowdStrike shares popped 12.8% after the company said it expects fiscal year 2027 net new annual recurring revenues to grow more than 20% – topping the Street's estimates. Abercrombie & Fitch leapt 5.3% after BTIG initiated coverage on the stock with a "buy" rating, and set a $120 price target, as brand momentum for the Y2K retailer heats up. Novo Nordisk jumped 6.3% after the Danish GLP-1 trailblazer released two positive study results, including one for its oral semaglutide treatment ("Wegovy in a pill"). Uber ticked 1.9% higher after the company announced a new partnership with drone operator Flytrex to begin testing an autonomous delivery-by-air system by the end of the year. IonQ shares rose 2.1% after the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the US Department of Energy "to advance the development and deployment of quantum technologies in space." Quantum peer Rigetti Computing jumped 12.5% on its $5.8-million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory. — Luke Kawa, Markets Editor & Nia Warfield, Markets Writer Analyst spotlights oil refiners' outperformance An analyst note spotlights relative outperformance of oil refiners versus the broader market. Read more. After Nvidia deal, the US government has made a roughly $4.5 billion paper profit on its Intel stake in less than a month The government has returned roughly 51% on the investment since announcing it August 22. Read more. "That's cute": Tracking the public feud between Frontier and United Airlines A US airline feud has two CEOs bickering over who's better at math. Wall Street analysts think through the Nvidia-Intel deal TL;DR: Huge for Intel, helpful for Nvidia, and potentially bad for AMD. SEC paves way for speedier crypto ETF listings as XRP and dogecoin ETFs launch Rex Osprey launched the first spot XRP and doge ETFs today, while Grayscale will soon launch its just-approved multi-asset fund. Watch: Meta virtual reality conference bloopers Meta Connect was tough to watch. 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