Nasdaq Leads a Second Day of Selling as Apple Jumps 3.6%

The Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ closed at $708.69, down 1.06%, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, as investors sold ahead of Friday's CPI report, while Apple shares rose 3.56% to 326.57 to lead the Dow.

Sellers came back into the stock market on Thursday, and they concentrated their work where the index math hurts most. The Nasdaq 100 tracking fund (NASDAQ: QQQ) closed at $708.69, down 1.06% from the prior close of $716.31 — a drop of $7.62 — and finished near the bottom of a day range of $706.86 to $712.06. That is the shape of a session in which buyers never showed up in size: the index spent the day working lower and closed without a bounce.

The broader tape was softer but calmer. The S&P 500 tracker (NYSEARCA: SPY) ended at $757.83, off 0.60%, or $4.57 from its previous close of $762.40. The Dow 30 fund (NYSEARCA: DIA) closed at $520.75, down 0.63%, or $3.32. Both finished in the lower half of their ranges. The gap between the Nasdaq's loss and the Dow's is the tell: this was a growth-and-duration sell-off, not a wholesale exit from equities.

Why the Nasdaq is the index under examination

The technology-heavy index is the one carrying the market's valuation risk into Friday's consumer price index report, and it is the one Investor's Business Daily flagged as facing a key technical test before the data lands.

The logic is straightforward even if the chart lines are not. Long-duration equities — companies whose profits are weighted heavily toward future years — are the most sensitive to the discount rate applied to those profits. A hotter-than-expected inflation print pushes out the timetable for rate relief and lifts that discount rate, and the arithmetic strips more value from a cash flow arriving in 2032 than from one arriving next quarter. That is why the Nasdaq gave up nearly twice the percentage of the Dow on a day when no company-specific catastrophe hit the tape.

A "key test" in this context means the index is trading down toward a level that has previously attracted buyers — a moving average or a prior consolidation floor. Whether that level holds is not knowable in advance, and it matters less than what it signals: institutions that have been adding on dips are being asked, at a specific price, whether they still want to. Two consecutive down sessions into a scheduled macro event is the classic setup for that question to be answered by the data rather than by the chart.

Copper stocks gave back ground

Copper names sold off during the session, a move that cuts against the metal's recent narrative as the physical proxy for electrification and data-center buildout demand. Miners and copper-levered industrials tend to trade as a package on two inputs — the spot price of the metal and the market's read on global industrial demand — and neither responds well to a session in which investors are pricing in the possibility that rates stay higher for longer.

There is a second mechanism worth naming. Commodity producers are among the most reliable momentum trades on the board, and momentum positions are the first thing risk managers trim ahead of a binary macro event. A sell-off in copper equities on the eve of a CPI print is at least as likely to be position management as a change of view on the underlying commodity. What would confirm a genuine change of view is follow-through selling after the number is out.

Apple did the opposite of everything else

Against a red tape, Apple (AAPL) closed at 326.57, up 3.56% from a prior close of 315.34 — a gain of 11.23 per share — and traded as high as 326.74, meaning it finished essentially at the top of its daily range. That is a stronger signal than the percentage alone. A stock that closes at its high on a down day is being accumulated, not merely marked up on a headline.

Apple's weight in the Dow made it the visible offset in that index, and it explains part of why the Dow's decline was smaller in percentage terms than the Nasdaq's. Strip out a mega-cap rising 3.56% and the price-weighted average would have looked worse.

The wider point is about market breadth. When a single mega-cap accounts for a meaningful share of an index's relative performance, the headline number understates how many stocks actually fell. Investors reading a 0.63% Dow loss as a mild session should hold that thought against a 1.06% Nasdaq loss with a large-cap technology name working hard in the opposite direction.

What Friday's print decides

The CPI report is the event both sessions have been trading around, and it resolves into three broad outcomes.

• Cooler than expected. The rate path shortens, the discount-rate pressure on long-duration names eases, and the Nasdaq's technical test likely resolves upward on a relief bid. Copper equities would be among the higher-beta beneficiaries.
• In line. The most awkward result. Positioning unwinds without a catalyst to reverse it, and the market goes back to trading the next data point. Whether the Nasdaq's level holds becomes a question of flows rather than fundamentals.
• Hotter than expected. The two-day slide extends, technology leads lower again, and the sector dispersion visible on Thursday — mega-cap strength against broad weakness — gets tested by whether names like Apple can keep bidding when the index is falling harder.

What to watch when the number lands

Three things are worth tracking in the first hour after the release. First, whether the Nasdaq's decline stays contained to a percentage point or accelerates — the difference between orderly de-risking and a positioning flush. Second, whether copper equities bounce, which would confirm Thursday's move was pre-event trimming rather than a demand call. Third, whether Apple's strength holds or fades, because a mega-cap that led on a down day and then reverses on the data tells you the bid was tactical.

None of that is a forecast. It is a checklist. Thursday delivered two facts worth carrying into Friday: the Nasdaq 100 tracker closed at $708.69 near its session low, and Apple closed at 326.57 near its session high. The inflation data decides which of those two is the more durable signal.

Key facts

• Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) close: $708.69, -1.06%, as of 20:00 GMT Sept. 10, 2026
• Apple (AAPL) close: 326.57, +3.56%, as of 20:00 GMT Sept. 10, 2026
• S&P 500 (SPY) close: $757.83, -0.60%, day range $756.64–$760.11
• Dow 30 (DIA) close: $520.75, -0.63%, day range $519.80–$523.02

Frequently asked questions

How much did the major index trackers fall on Sept. 10, 2026?

The Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ closed at $708.69, down 1.06% from a prior close of $716.31. The S&P 500 tracker SPY closed at $757.83, down 0.60% from $762.40. The Dow 30 fund DIA closed at $520.75, down 0.63% from $524.07. All figures are as of the last trade at 20:00 GMT.

Why did the Nasdaq fall more than the Dow?

The Nasdaq 100 is weighted toward technology and growth companies whose profits arrive further in the future. Those cash flows lose more value when investors raise the discount rate applied to them, which happens when the outlook for interest rate relief is pushed back. Ahead of an inflation report, that sensitivity shows up as a larger percentage decline than in the more industrially weighted Dow.

How much did Apple stock gain?

Apple closed at 326.57, up 3.56% from its prior close of 315.34, a gain of 11.23 per share. It traded as high as 326.74 during the session, meaning it finished near the top of its daily range. Apple's weight in the Dow Jones Industrial Average helped limit that index's decline relative to the Nasdaq 100.

What does a 'key test' mean for the Nasdaq?

It refers to the index trading down toward a technical level — typically a moving average or prior consolidation floor — that has previously attracted buyers. Holding the level suggests dip buyers remain engaged; breaking below it suggests they have stepped aside. Whether it holds is generally resolved by incoming data rather than by the chart itself.

Why did copper stocks sell off?

Copper equities trade on the metal's spot price and on the market's read of global industrial demand, both of which suffer when investors price in a longer period of higher interest rates. Copper names are also popular momentum positions, and momentum trades are commonly trimmed ahead of a scheduled macro event such as a CPI release.

What should investors watch after the CPI report?

Three things: whether the Nasdaq's decline stays contained or accelerates into a broader positioning flush; whether copper equities bounce, which would indicate Thursday's selling was pre-event trimming rather than a demand call; and whether Apple's strength persists, since a mega-cap that leads on a down day and then reverses suggests the bid was tactical.

Sources

• Stock Market Trips With Nasdaq Making Key Test Before CPI Report; Apple Shines — Investors Business Daily

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