Stock Market Today: Indexes Retreat to Start Holiday-Shortened Week; Amgen, Salesforce Weigh on Dow

Amgen Leads S&P 500 Health Care Sector Lower

FROM 13 minutes ago

Amgen may be the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 Tuesday, but it’s not the only reason Health Care is bringing up the rear among the benchmark index’s 11 sectors.

Amgen shares are down more than 9%, but five other components in the Health Care sector are down at least 4%, including Stryker (SYK) and Boston Scientific (BSX), which are more than 7% and 5% lower, respectively.

Eight of the 11 sectors are in the red at the moment. The S&P 500 overall is down 0.3%.

Optical Stocks Soar as Corning Inks Multibillion-Dollar Supply Deal With Verizon

FROM 1 hr 16 min ago

Corning shares are surging after the company agreed to a lucrative supply agreement with Verizon Communications for high-density optical fiber. The news is lifting shares of Corning’s rivals, too.

In addition to Corning (GLW), whose stock is jumping 9% Tuesday afternoon, shares of Lumentum Holding (LITE), Coherent (COHR), and Ciena (CIEN) are surging 12%, 9%, and 7%, respectively.

Early Tuesday, Verizon (VZ) announced that “to meet surging demand for consumer broadband and converged services alongside emerging AI needs,” the firms had “reached a multi-billion dollar agreement for 80+ million miles of high-density optical fiber and connectivity solutions from 2027 to 2032.”

Mike O’Day, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Corning Optical Communications, said the deal “demonstrates that Gen AI and broadband expansion are part of the same transformative opportunity.”

Optical stocks have skyrocketed this year, with Lumentum, Corning, Coherent, and Ciena up a respective 169%, 91%, 66%, and 46%.

ETF Launches Continue Torrid Pace in 2026

FROM 2 hr 19 min ago

The booming ETF industry is on track to post a record year of launches.

More than 1,000 new exchange-traded funds have listed in the U.S. through the end of August, about 52% higher than last year’s figure over the same period, according to FactSet. Collectively those funds held $16.4 trillion in assets under management through Aug. 31, with over $180 billion in fresh flows added just last month, the research platform’s data show.

Though new places for investors to park their cash continues to proliferate, monthly net fund flows have been on the wane as equity investors have appeared to seek relative safety in terms of sector exposure.

“Investors took a more defensive stance in August, as most S&P sectors experienced outflows, with Financials, Information Technology, and Energy recording the most outflows,” FactSet senior ETF analyst Lois Gregson wrote in a report published late last week. The consumer discretionary, materials, industrials and utilities sectors showed inflows.

Newly launched funds didn’t exactly match that mood. Of the 134 new ETFs brought to market last month, about a quarter used leveraged or inverse strategies, according to FactSet. Also, 18 new single-stock funds were added, and most of them were for chipmakers, the data show. 

–Crystal Kim

Intel Could Be Set to Raise Prices, Again. The Stock Is Soaring

FROM 2 hr 30 min ago

Intel’s stock is soaring on signs it could be set to raise prices. 

Shares of Intel (INTC) were up nearly 8% in recent trading after a report from Taiwan-based DIGITIMES that Intel could be set to hike CPU prices 10% in October. Intel was one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 at a time when broader markets lost ground. 

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), and other chip stocks also climbed, pushing the PHLX Semiconductor sector index (SOX) up 2%. 

Intel has already lifted prices on its products more than once in recent months, amid strong demand and rising costs for memory components. Back in July, the chipmaker posted second-quarter results that topped analysts’ estimates, driven by booming AI demand.

The report from DIGITIMES also said Intel plans to launch major new products next March, with AMD seen following between June and July.

Intel did not respond to an Investopedia request for comment in time for publication.

–Kara Greenberg

3 Quantum Stocks Rise as US Government Takes Minority Stakes in CHIPS Act Funding Deal

FROM 3 hr 20 min ago

Uncle Sam is taking a minority stake in three quantum computing companies in exchange for CHIPS and Science Act funding. The trio’s shareholders are pleased with the tradeoff.

Shares of D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), and Quantinuum (QNT) advanced a respective 8.5%, 7%, and 2% Tuesday after they announced they had agreed to give the U.S. Department of Commerce minority equity stakes in exchange for $100 million apiece in CHIPS Act money.

“The Administration has made clear that U.S. quantum leadership will require not only breakthrough research, but also the ability to scale, commercialize and manufacture these technologies,” D-Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz said. “This award will help fulfill that mission by expanding domestic quantum capabilities, strengthening the underlying supply chain and bringing increasingly powerful quantum systems to market.”

Despite today’s gains, D-Wave and Rigetti shares are down a respective 31% and 27% since the start of the year, while Quantinuum shares have declined 16% since their June 4 debut.

Disappointing Clinical Trial Results Are Dragging Novartis, Amgen, and the Dow Lower Tuesday

FROM 4 hr 5 min ago

U.S.-listed shares of Novartis are slumping Tuesday morning following disappointing clinical trial results from the Swiss drugmaker.

Novartis (NVS) shares were down 13% recently, dragging them nearly back to where they started the year. The company said this morning that a development drug called del-desiran failed to improve a key indicator for patients with myotonic dystrophy, a muscle loss disease. 

Just days earlier, Novartis said a drug targeting a type of cholesterol that increases risk of heart disease failed in its objective to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. 

Amgen (AMGN), which is working on a similar cholesterol-targeting drug to the one that failed in Novartis’ trial, saw its shares drop 5%. Amgen’s decline is pressuring the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as the drugmaker holds the fourth-largest weight in the index.

Novartis chief medical officer Shreeram Aradhye said the company is “committed to identifying the most appropriate development path for the del-desiran program” and will discuss the trial data with regulators.

Clinical trials can hold an outsize importance on drugmakers’ stocks, as they help investors project when new products could reach the market and contribute to sales. Novartis said in Tuesday’s release that it still expects sales to post a compound annual growth rate of 5% to 6% through 2030.

–Aaron McDade

Qualcomm Shares Jump on Amazon AI Data Infrastructure Deal

FROM 4 hr 13 min ago

Qualcomm shareholders evidently are excited about the chipmaker’s new partnership with Amazon.

Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) advanced 4.5% after the firm announced it was collaborating with Amazon (AMZN) on next-generation AI data center infrastructure.

Qualcomm said the deal with Amazon will “enable customized silicon at scale for large-scale AI data centers, working together on AI inference,” and that the firms “are working on optical connectivity solutions extending up to 1.6T and future-generation solutions.”

“As AI demand accelerates, data center infrastructure will require advances in both computing and connectivity to deliver greater performance with more efficiency,” Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said.

With today’s move, Qualcomm shares moved into positive territory for the year. Amazon shares slipped less than 1% but are up about 11% in 2026.

Boston Scientific Cyberattack ‘Likely to Have a Material Impact’ on Q3, FY Results

FROM 5 hr 3 min ago

On Aug. 26, Boston Scientific disclosed a cyberattack that caused global disruptions to its operations, but said it had “not yet determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to have a material impact.” Now it has.

Shares of Boston Scientific (BSX) declined 2% before the bell Tuesday after the maker of medical devices said in a regulatory filing that “has determined that the incident is likely to have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations for the third quarter and full year 2026.”

The Marlborough, Mass.-based firm added that it “believes that it is unlikely to meet the net sales growth and adjusted EPS guidance ranges for the third quarter and full year 2026” it announced on July 29.

Boston Scientific said it “anticipates recovering some portion of the impacted revenue as it continues to ramp operations globally, fulfill customer orders and reduce remaining backlogs, however the full impacts are not yet known.” It added it plans on updating its outlook for the year during its Q3 earnings call on Oct. 28.

Boston Scientific shares entered Tuesday having lost half their value this year.

Bloom Energy Rallies on News of S&P 500 Addition

FROM 5 hr 38 min ago

Shares of Bloom Energy (BE) are surging this morning following the Friday announcement of the S&P’s quarterly index rebalancing.

Ahead of the opening bell on Sept. 21, the fuel-cell maker will be added to the benchmark S&P 500 along with Everpure (P) and Illumina (ILMN).

The trio will replace Molson Coors Beverage (TAP), The Trade Desk (TTD) and Builders FirstSource (BLDR), all three of which are moving to the S&P SmallCap 600.

Bloom Energy shares were up 6% in recent trading, while Everpure and Illumina each tacked on 1.5%.

–Aaron McDade

What to Expect in Markets This Week

FROM 6 hr 33 min ago

This week is set to bring an update on inflation that could sway the stance of the nation’s central bank.

After a hotter-than-expected jobs report Friday suggested the economy could be stronger than anticipated, this week’s report on the Consumer Price Index in August may matter more in the Federal Reserve’s deliberations on whether to raise interest rates later this month.

Recent escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict and supply disruptions that have fueled higher energy costs could show up at the pump and elsewhere, as businesses pass those costs on to consumers. Average U.S. gas prices set a record for the month of August and were on track to hit a high over Labor Day weekend, according to AAA, a group representing motorists.

The rise in fuel prices appears to be influencing shifts in Americans’ behavior, and an update on consumer sentiment might offer us more insight on their reactions. Americans say they’re driving less, and data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics backs them up. Consumers are also spending carefully, with retail sales stagnating.

Read the full article here.

–Sarina Trangle

Stock Futures Point Mostly Lower to Start Holiday-Shortened Week as Oil Prices, Treasury Yields Rise

FROM 7 hr 8 min ago

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed down 0.7%.

S&P 500 futures declined 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures ticked 0.1% higher.