Health Care Stocks Hit Record Highs, GM Drops Nearly 8%: Stock Market Today

Health care stocks climbed to record highs by midday Tuesday, with defensives and small caps leading a recovery from an early dip as the Nasdaq 100 stalled.

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) fell 7.6%, marking the steepest decline among the large-cap names and the stock’s worst day since July 2025. Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.70 beat the $3.63 estimate and revenue of $50 billion topped forecasts, but full-year EPS guidance of $12.75-$13.75 sits below the analysts’ $13.41 midpoint.

Oil eased a bit despite Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatening to target undersea communication cables in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude touched a five-month high above $110 a barrel earlier on Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure before reversing lower. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell about 1.0% to $97.55 a barrel.

Crude’s pullback from overnight highs helped equities find their footing after a softer open.

The S&P 500 advanced 22 points, or 0.3%, to 7,713, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 458 points, or 0.9%, to 52,424. In the Dow, 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM) jumped over 5% after reporting earnings this morning.

The Nasdaq 100 was little changed at 29,532.

In bond markets, the 10-year Treasury yield held near 5.11%, down about 3 basis points, while the 2-year yield stood around 4.76%. Weak housing data helped: September housing starts fell to 1.221 million annually, below the 1.305 million consensus, and pending home sales dropped 7.3% month over month.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices

Index	Last	% Change	MTD	YTD
S&P 500	7,713.16	+0.29%	+0.81%	+12.67%
Dow Jones	52,424.37	+0.88%	+2.98%	+9.07%
Nasdaq 100	29,532.37	+0.01%	-2.88%	+16.96%
Russell 2000	2,768.89	+1.49%	-1.00%	+11.56%

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 0.3%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.9%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) slipped 0.0%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rallied 1.3%.

Health Care Stocks Lead Among S&P 500

• The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) climbed 2.2% to a record high.

• The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) gained 1.7%, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) rose 1.3% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) added 1.1%.

• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) rose 0.7% and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) gained 0.5%.

• The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) added 0.3% after Monday snapped a nine-day losing streak, the longest in about 20 years.

• Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) led Russell 1000 gainers, rising 11.4%, after third-quarter revenue growth of 10% year over year matched consensus, even as the company trimmed its 2026 revenue guidance midpoint to $6.661 billion on weak U.S. mortgage activity. TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) gained 7.0%, trading higher alongside its credit-bureau peer.

On the Downside

Mueller Industries Inc. (NYSE:MLI) was the session’s worst Russell 1000 performer, falling 8.8% after adjusted third-quarter EPS of $1.00 missed the $1.05 consensus, even as revenue of $1.42 billion beat the $1.29 billion estimate.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) fell 0.4% and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) slipped 0.2%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK), Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) and Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) were roughly flat.

Looking Ahead

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) and United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) are scheduled to report after the close, with Netflix expected to post EPS of $0.82 on revenue of $12.88 billion.

Elsewhere, Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) gained 5.8% after a third-quarter revenue beat and a raised annual growth forecast, and Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) agreed to buy Braze for about $5.66 billion, or $47.50 per share in cash.

Tuesday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Name	% change
Equifax Inc.	+11.36%
Klaviyo Inc. (NYSE:KVYO)	+9.87%
Whirlpool Corp.  (NYSE:WHR)	+8.21%
Doximity Inc. (NYSE:DOCS)	+7.34%
TransUnion	+7.04%

Tuesday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers

Name	% change
Mueller Industries Inc.	-8.80%
General Motors Co.	-7.61%
DPC Holdings PLC (DPC)	-7.11%
DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)	-6.44%
Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)	-5.24%

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