Mon Oct 26, 2026

What happened

The S&P 500 rose 0.71 percent. The Nasdaq 100 gained 1.12 percent, the Dow added 0.32 percent, and the Russell 2000 rose 0.45 percent. All four closed higher.

Technology led the sectors with a gain of 1.69 percent, followed by industrials at 1.43 percent and consumer discretionary at 1.02 percent. Communication services fell 1.6 percent, the weakest sector, on a day when Meta's announced offering of preferred and common stock drew the widest coverage. Health care and utilities were little changed. Surgery Partners rose 47.5 percent and Range Resources gained 17.6 percent, the day's largest gainers. The biggest losers were Brazilian stocks, which coverage linked to the country's election outcome. Sabesp fell 24.66 percent, National Steel dropped 23.13 percent, and Ambev lost 13.94 percent.

No story in today's coverage clearly explains the advance. Broad market reports included word that the United States and Canada are working on a deal to ease tariffs on Canadian steel and auto imports, a report that Iran is open to a shorter timeline for an American proposal if conditions are met, and previews of results from Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. Coverage also noted that 36 percent of S&P 500 companies report this week. After the close, scheduled reporters include Cadence Design Systems, Nucor, The Hartford, and Celestica.

Against this morning

This morning's brief was balanced, with a structure score of 49, and made no directional call. Its headline described the prior close, when all four indexes fell. The session instead ended higher, led by the Nasdaq 100's gain of 1.12 percent. The verdict, "no call", means the brief committed to no direction, so the day's gain neither confirms nor contradicts it.