Dow and S&P 500 Fall; Nasdaq Rises Ahead of Fed; Nvidia Stock, AMD, Ares, and More Movers

The yield on the 2-year Treasury note rose to 3.61%. The 10-year yield was up to 4.17%. Bond yields jumped after the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed resilience in the labor market during September and October.

“With the recent backup in 10-year yields (now around 4.18%), we’re again getting questions about where equity markets might start to react negatively,” writes Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist and head of portfolio strategy at Piper Sandler. “While no level is ever exact, the past three years show that moves above ~4.25% tend to coincide with weaker equity returns and a doubling in realized equity volatility.”

The Dow was dragged down by JPMorgan Chase, which saw shares slide after Marianne Lake, the firm’s consumer banking chief, offered an outlook for 2026 firmwide expenses that was 3.6% higher than analyst expectations.

The Russell 2000 rose 0.2% to pull back within 0.2% of its Dec. 4 closing high, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Smaller stocks have been on a tear in recent months as investors anticipated lower interest rates. Traders see an 87.4% chance that the Federal Open Market Committee opts for a quarter-point cut tomorrow, though odds of further cuts in early 2026 were down a touch in the wake of the JOLTS report.

“During the last four rate-cut cycles, the Russell 2000 (small-cap stocks) outperformed the S&P 500 (large-cap stocks) by an average of 6-10% points in the first year of cuts,” Eric Diton, president and managing director at The Wealth Alliance, told Barron’s.

Small-caps are generally more affected by moves in borrowing costs since they tend to rely more on debt.

“Fed cuts also foster a more ‘risk-on’ posture in the markets, and small stocks are higher risk with more volatility than large stocks,” Diton says. “Notice that crypto stocks are very strong today as well, in tandem with the ‘risk-on’ move in small stocks.”