S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close at Record Highs as Technology Shares Gain

Wall Street reached new highs on Tuesday, October 6, even as its recent gains remained uneven. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both set closing records. Keith Lerner of Truist Advisory Services called technology and AI the market’s dominant theme, but noted that only two S&P 500 sectors had risen during the previous month.

New peaks, different-sized gains

The S&P 500 rose 0.58%, overtaking its previous peak from mid-August. The Nasdaq Composite, which has a heavier weighting toward technology stocks, gained 0.45%. The session extended a strong year for both indexes: the S&P 500 was up 14% in 2026, while the Nasdaq had advanced 18.78%, according to Al Jazeera’s October 7 account.

Technology shares were among Tuesday’s strongest performers. Six of the seven large technology companies commonly grouped as the “Magnificent Seven” finished higher, with Meta the exception. Amazon had the largest gain within that group, while Nvidia’s increase was much smaller. The day’s advances therefore varied considerably even among the market’s most prominent technology names.

• Amazon rose 1.95%, leading the seven-company group. Microsoft gained 0.78%, and Tesla added 0.51%.
• Apple and Alphabet each increased 0.22%. Nvidia finished 0.14% higher, while Meta declined 0.41%.
• Outside that group, Marvell Technology climbed 5.81% and Cisco gained 4.54%, larger moves than any of the seven recorded.

+14%S&P 500

The benchmark’s 2026 gain through the record-setting Tuesday close, as reported on October 7.

+18.78%Nasdaq Composite

The technology-heavy index’s gain over the same year-to-date period.

September’s narrow gains

Lerner, Truist’s chief investment officer and chief market strategist, described the rally as a technology and AI surge. His evidence for that theme included the previous month’s sector performance: technology and communication services rose in September, while the other nine S&P 500 sectors declined. That comparison concerns September, not the sector-by-sector results of Tuesday’s record-setting session.

An optimistic outlook with a rate risk

Lerner told Al Jazeera that the rally could continue through the end of 2026, citing expectations for strong corporate earnings and historical market patterns. He did not predict an uninterrupted climb. As a historical comparison, he said fourth quarters in midterm-election years had averaged a 7% gain and been positive 84% of the time since 1950.

Those figures describe past quarters, rather than a return promised for this year. Lerner identified rising interest rates as the biggest risk to the upward trend. Even with that concern, his assessment remained positive: he said the balance of evidence pointed to further upside for the bull market, the sustained period of rising share prices.