Wall Street Pauses For A Breather, Small Caps Soar: What's Moving Markets Tuesday?

Wall Street paused on Tuesday after three straight sessions of strong gains that pushed major large-cap indices to fresh records.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 6,682.62, while the Nasdaq 100 dipped 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% to 46,418.66, and small caps outperformed, with the Russell 2000 jumping 0.6%.

PSKY shares are testing new highs. Get the complete picture here.

On the economic front, the S&P Global U.S. Composite PMI slowed to 53.6 in September from 54.6 in August, signaling softer growth across both services and manufacturing, broadly in line with forecasts.

Energy stocks led sector gains as crude oil surged 2% to $63.50 a barrel amid rising geopolitical tensions in Europe. Copenhagen airport briefly shut down on Wednesday after several drones flew overhead, an incident Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed on Russia. Poland warned it would shoot down any drones entering its airspace.

Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PSKY) topped the S&P 500 with an 11% rally, followed by Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL), up more than 9%.

In commodities, gold extended its rally to a record $3,780, on track for its strongest three-day gain since May. Silver rose 0.5%, climbing above $44 per pound.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) held steady at $112,750.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day % change
• Russell 2000	2,477.40	0.6%
• Dow Jones	46,418.66	0.1%
• S&P 500	6,682.62	-0.2%
• Nasdaq 100	24,709.68	-0.2%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) edged 0.2% down to $613.52.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) inched slightly down to $463.63.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) eased 0.2% to $600.80.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 0.6% to $245.88.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) outperformed, up 2.4%; the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) lagged, down 0.4%.

S&P 500’s Top 5 Gainers On Tuesday

Company	% Change
Paramount Skydance Corp. (NASDAQ:PKSY)	11.34%
Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL)	9.60%
McKesson Corp. (NYSE:MCK)	6.95%
Texas Pacific Land Corp. (NYSE:TPL)	6.68%
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC)	4.66%

S&P 500’s To 5 Losers On Tuesday

Company	% Change
Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC)	-5.77%
Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)	-4.71%
Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL)	-4.19%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN)	-4.12%
Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)	-4.04%

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.