Close: Dow, Small-Cap ETFs Lead Gains as Nasdaq Tracker Slips

U.S. equity benchmarks diverged at Thursday’s close, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) rising 0.28% to $771.79 and the Nasdaq 100 tracker (QQQ) slipping 0.13% to $728.00. The Dow tracker (DIA) gained 1.08% to $521.18, while the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) climbed 1.37% to $275.08, finishing near its session high of $275.19.

Among mega-caps, Nvidia fell 1.84% to $217.23 and Apple eased 0.28% to $342.00, while Microsoft advanced 1.08% to $539.44. JPMorgan Chase edged up 0.07% to $335.53, and large-cap Exxon Mobil declined 1.32% to $174.68.

Mid-cap IonQ jumped 9.33% to $34.35, just below its session high of $34.36, while Celsius Holdings gained 3.64% to $28.16. Among small-caps, Intuitive Machines rose 4.99% to $11.57 and Plug Power added 2.41% to $1.49, its session high. Aehr Test Systems fell 3.19% to $69.21 after trading as low as $62.5306.

Micro-cap shares were mixed: Duos Technologies gained 2.86% to $5.76, while ClearSign Technologies dropped 7.02% to $2.45. Duos finished near its $5.78 session high, while ClearSign closed toward the lower end of its $2.3501–$2.7801 range.

Geopolitical headlines included Reuters reports of a Houthi strike on a palace in Aden, attacks on Saudi infrastructure and fresh U.S. Iran-related sanctions. CNBC reported that Nvidia and Cisco confirmed multimillion-dollar donations to President Trump’s White House ballroom, and that KFC would switch to Coca-Cola beverages in U.S. restaurants. The supplied headlines did not establish a direct catalyst for the session’s individual stock moves.

The next session will test whether the relative strength in Dow and small-cap trackers persists and whether the Nasdaq tracker recovers. Further developments involving Iran sanctions and attacks on Saudi infrastructure remain headlines to watch.