Nasdaq and S&P Hold Weekly Gains as Small Caps and Dow Slip Midweek
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 7, 2026 /CNW/ -- Stock Preachers Market Commentary - Major averages split this week as the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 held onto gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 turned lower. The Nasdaq rose 1.05% for the week to 27,475.93, and the S&P 500 added 0.92% to 7,793.85, even as both indices fell on the latest session. The Dow slipped 0.06% for the week to 51,145.98, and the Russell 2000 dropped 1.42% to 2,792.80, underscoring a market where large-cap tech and biotech names are carrying the tape while smaller companies lag. Active Companies from around the markets with current developments this week include: RTX (NYSE: RTX), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), SAP SE (NYSE: SAP), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM), and Canadian National Railway Company (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI).
The Nasdaq Composite closed at 27,475.93, down 0.45% on the day but still up 1.05% for the week, with an RSI14 of 64.5 signaling a market near overbought territory. The index traded as high as 27,722.75 this week, matching its 52-week high, while support sits at 27,288.79 and 27,167.06. The S&P 500 closed at 7,793.85, down 0.32% on the day, with RSI14 at 59.4 and resistance at its 52-week high of 7,844.52.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.73% on the day to 51,145.98, pushing its weekly change to negative 0.06%, with an RSI14 of 40.4 reflecting the index's relative weakness. The Russell 2000 posted the week's sharpest decline, down 1.32% on the day and 1.42% for the week to 2,792.80, with an RSI14 of 34.5 as small caps underperform large caps.
Volatility ticked higher with the VIX at 15.33, up 0.32 on the day though down 0.19 for the week, while the Nasdaq-100 volatility gauge (VXN) rose to 21.45. In commodities, gold fell 1.25% on the day to $4,134.90 per ounce and silver dropped 1.51% to $60.24, while WTI crude slipped to $88.89 a barrel. Natural gas jumped 3.82% on the day, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.32%.
The full report includes a detailed levels ladder for each index, a broader look at sector sentiment, and a preview of what to watch in the week ahead.
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In other industry developments and happenings in the market this week include:
RTX (NYSE: RTX) Raytheon, an RTX business, has secured a five-year contract with two additional option years, valued up to $24.4 billion, for Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) interceptors, boosting availability of the munition for offensive strikes and missile defense missions for the U.S. Navy.
"SM-6's multi-mission capability is vital to our customer, and Raytheon is intensely focused on meeting the demand," said Phil Jasper, Raytheon President. "By continuously investing in our operations and facilities, we are removing constraints and boosting capacity to ensure we deliver this critical capability our sailors depend on."
SM-6 is described as the only combat-proven weapon able to perform anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and ballistic missile defense, and has been fired from various U.S. Navy ship-based platforms and land-based launchers.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) The U.S. FDA has approved an additional indication for Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib), a non-covalent BTK inhibitor, for adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma without a known 17p deletion, allowing its use as a first-line treatment for appropriate patients.
The approval is based on the BRUIN CLL-313 trial, where at a median follow-up of 28 months, progression-free survival was significantly improved with pirtobrutinib compared to bendamustine plus rituximab (HR=0.20; p<0.0001), with median PFS not yet reached for pirtobrutinib versus 33.5 months for the comparator arm. Overall response rate was 94% for pirtobrutinib versus 81% for the comparator.
"This milestone underscores Jaypirca's versatility in the CLL continuum of care, from the first-line setting for appropriate patients to its valuable role in the relapsed or refractory post-covalent BTK inhibitor setting," said Jacob Van Naarden, executive vice president and president of Lilly Oncology.
SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) SAP SE and TechWolf have entered into an agreement for SAP to acquire TechWolf, provider of an AI work intelligence platform that gives enterprises a continuously updated view of the work their people do and the skills they have. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval, with terms not disclosed.
"TechWolf's proprietary context graph for skills and work provides an excellent grounding layer for agent queries regarding work and skills planning and talent management," said Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for SAP Autonomous Suite and member of the Extended Board of SAP SE.
"We have spent eight years building the evidence layer to answer those questions," said Andreas De Neve, CEO and co-founder of TechWolf, who added the company plans to "build a world-class AI company" following the acquisition. TechWolf is expected to remain an independent entity under De Neve in its Ghent headquarters.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Hagens Berman is investigating potential securities law violations by IBM after CEO Arvind Krishna previewed disastrous Q2 2026 results on July 14, 2026, a disclosure that sent IBM shares down 25% in one day, erasing over $68 billion in market capitalization.
On April 22, 2026, IBM had reported Infrastructure, Hybrid Infrastructure, and IBM Z revenues up 15%, 28% and 51% respectively, with management projecting constant currency revenue growth of 5-plus percent for 2026. By July, total revenue growth had slowed to 1% and Infrastructure revenue declined 7%.
CEO Krishna said "[w]hat played out was worse than our expectations, driven by a shortfall in our Z performance and the associated software stack, primarily in Transaction Processing," adding "numerous large deals failed to close." "Based in part on the abruptness of the bad news, we are looking into whether and when the Company may have had information raising the probability that large deals were unlikely to timely close during IBM's second quarter," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.
Canadian National Railway Company (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) CN announced it set a new quarterly record for grain movement, moving 7.94 million metric tonnes of grain from Western Canada in its third quarter, surpassing the previous record of 7.48 million metric tonnes set in 2020.
The company attributed the performance to robust customer demand, close collaboration across the grain supply chain and consistent execution of its operating plan, and said it remains focused on sustaining momentum through winter.
CN recently published its 2026-2027 Winter Plan outlining proactive solutions across its network to support safe and reliable service, and will report third-quarter 2026 financial and operating results before markets open on October 30, 2026.
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