{"id":72188,"date":"2026-09-24T12:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/energy-surges-as-tech-and-broader-markets-retreat-midday\/72188\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T12:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T16:07:14","slug":"energy-surges-as-tech-and-broader-markets-retreat-midday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/energy-surges-as-tech-and-broader-markets-retreat-midday\/72188\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Surges as Tech and Broader Markets Retreat Midday"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. equity markets are experiencing a downward trend during midday trading on Thursday, September 24th, 2026. While the session opened with a mixed tone, momentum has shifted toward the bears as investors grapple with rising Treasury yields and a significant spike in energy prices. The market\u2019s "fear gauge," the VIX, represented by the iPath Series B S&P 500<\/a> VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>), has climbed 1.61%, signaling increased caution among market participants.<\/p>\n

Major Index Performance<\/h2>\n

As of midday, all three major indexes are trading in negative territory. The S&P 500 (SPY<\/a>) is down 0.5%, struggling to maintain its footing as technology and industrial sectors face selling pressure. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (QQQ<\/a>) is the day's laggard, falling 0.77% as high-growth stocks react to a move higher in long-term interest rates. The Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (DIA<\/a>) is also underperforming, shedding 0.66%.<\/p>\n

Small-cap stocks are seeing even steeper declines, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) dropping 0.98%. This suggests a broad-based "risk-off" sentiment, particularly as the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT<\/a>) falls 0.86%, indicating that yields are pushing higher and weighing on equity valuations.<\/p>\n

Sector Spotlight: Energy Gains Amidst Tech Weakness<\/h2>\n

The standout performer today is the energy sector. The United States Oil Fund (USO<\/a>) has surged 4.36%, driving the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE<\/a>) up 1.53%. This rally is largely attributed to geopolitical tensions and supply-side concerns that have pushed crude prices higher. Conversely, the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK<\/a>) is down 1.12%, and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) has retreated 1.51%.<\/p>\n

Major Stock News and Corporate Developments<\/h2>\n

In corporate news, Meta Platforms (META<\/a>) remains a focal point of activity, trading slightly up by 0.1% on massive volume following its recent product announcements. However, Oracle Corp (ORCL<\/a>) is seeing significant pressure, falling 5.4% as investors take profits following a recent run-up.<\/p>\n

In the semiconductor space, Micron<\/a> Technology (MU<\/a>) is down 2.1% ahead of its highly anticipated earnings report scheduled for next week. Other "Magnificent Seven" members like Apple (AAPL<\/a>), Nvidia<\/a> (NVDA<\/a>), and Microsoft<\/a> (MSFT<\/a>) are also seeing modest declines in line with the broader Nasdaq weakness.<\/p>\n

In the premarket<\/a> and early session, several small-cap biotech and pharmaceutical firms saw explosive moves. Apimeds Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. (APUS<\/a>) skyrocketed 204.1%, while Surrozen, Inc. (SRZN<\/a>) jumped 89.3% on unusual volume.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Market Events<\/h2>\n

Investors are closely watching the retail sector as two heavyweights prepare to report earnings after the closing bell today. Costco Wholesale Corp (COST<\/a>) is expected to report earnings of $6.56 per share, with investors looking for updates on membership growth and consumer spending patterns. Nike, Inc. (NKE<\/a>) is also set to report, with an estimated EPS of $0.45, as the company continues its strategic pivot to direct-to-consumer sales.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to next week, the market will focus on Carnival Corporation (CCL<\/a>) on Monday and Paychex Inc (PAYX<\/a>) on Tuesday. These reports, combined with upcoming economic data regarding inflation and labor market strength, will likely determine if the current midday dip is a temporary consolidation or the start of a deeper correction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. equity markets are experiencing a downward trend during midday trading on Thursday, September 24th, 2026. While the session opened […]<\/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":[5716,95,225,633,1160,1220,3710,4350,4380,4461],"class_list":["post-72188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-energy-sector","tag-nasdaq","tag-aapl","tag-nvda","tag-nke","tag-cost","tag-federal-reserve","tag-dow-jones","tag-stock-market","tag-crude-oil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72188","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=72188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72188\/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=72188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}