U.S. equity markets showed strong upward momentum during Monday afternoon trading on September 21, 2026. Investors appeared to shake off recent volatility, pivoting back toward growth-oriented sectors, particularly technology and semiconductors. The bullish sentiment was further bolstered by a massive rally in the cryptocurrency space, which provided a significant tailwind to digital asset-related equities and communication services.<\/p>\n
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the charge among the major averages. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ<\/a>), which tracks the Nasdaq-100, surged 2.56% by mid-afternoon. This outperformance was mirrored by the broader market, as the State Street SPDR S&P 500<\/a> ETF Trust (SPY<\/a>) gained 1.53%.<\/p>\n The blue-chip Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average, represented by the State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA<\/a>), saw more modest but steady gains of 0.72%. Meanwhile, small-cap stocks showed resilience, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) rising 0.6%. The market's "fear gauge" remained relatively subdued, as the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>) edged lower by 0.23%, suggesting a decrease in perceived near-term risk.<\/p>\n The afternoon session was dominated by a surge in the Technology and Communication Services sectors. The State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC<\/a>) jumped 3.84%, while the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK<\/a>) rose 2.4%. Semiconductors were a particular point of strength, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) climbing 3.64%.<\/p>\n Digital assets stole the spotlight today. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT<\/a>) skyrocketed 5.86%, and the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA<\/a>) gained 4.09%. This crypto-fueled optimism trickled into AI-focused funds, with the iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF (BAI<\/a>) gaining 3.58%.<\/p>\n Conversely, the energy sector faced significant pressure as crude oil prices<\/a> retreated. The United States Oil Fund, LP (USO<\/a>) fell 3.6%, dragging the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE<\/a>) down by 2.27%. Defensive sectors also lagged, with Utilities (XLU<\/a>) and Consumer Staples (XLP<\/a>) both trading in the red.<\/p>\n Intel Corp (INTC<\/a>) was among the most active stocks of the day, jumping 7.3% following reports of continued progress in its foundry turnaround strategy. Micron<\/a> Technology, Inc. (MU<\/a>) also saw heavy volume, rising 2.8% as demand for high-bandwidth memory remains robust.<\/p>\n In the software and crypto-proxy space, Strategy Inc (MSTR<\/a>)\u2014formerly known as MicroStrategy\u2014rose 6.9% in tandem with Bitcoin's price appreciation. Sandisk<\/a> Corporation (SNDK<\/a>) also made waves with a 2.0% gain on high dollar volume.<\/p>\n In the penny stock and speculative arena, Greenland Mines Ltd. (GRML<\/a>) witnessed an extraordinary 157.6% surge, while Greenland Energy Company (GLND<\/a>) followed with a 151.8% gain. Twin Vee PowerCats Co. (VEEE<\/a>) also saw unusual activity, rising 69.1% on more than 300 times its average volume.<\/p>\n Investors are looking ahead to a busy week of corporate earnings and economic data. Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22nd, AutoZone, Inc. (AZO<\/a>) is scheduled to report its Q4 2026 results before the opening bell. Mid-week highlights include General Mills, Inc. (GIS<\/a>) and Cintas Corp (CTAS<\/a>) on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The most anticipated reports arrive on Thursday, September 24th, when retail giant Costco Wholesale Corp (COST<\/a>) and athletic apparel leader Nike, Inc. (NKE<\/a>) report after the market close. These results will provide critical insights into the health of the U.S. consumer and global discretionary spending. Additionally, market participants are keeping a close eye on Treasury yields, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT<\/a>) currently up 0.45% as the market anticipates future Federal Reserve policy shifts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. equity markets showed strong upward momentum during Monday afternoon trading on September 21, 2026. Investors appeared to shake off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,6824],"tags":[31,95,633,1566,3710,3733,4380,5027],"class_list":["post-72059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-intc","tag-nasdaq","tag-nvda","tag-mstr","tag-federal-reserve","tag-bitcoin","tag-stock-market","tag-semiconductors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sector Highlights and Afternoon Activity<\/h2>\n
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