DAILY MARKET BRIEFING 16 SEPTEMBER 2026

S&P 500 7,551.81 -0.45% NASDAQ 25,978.43 -0.01% DOW 51,461.90 -1.21% RUSSELL 2,858.81 -0.40% FTSE 10,688.50 +0.29% DAX 25,537.75 +0.53% VIX 17.71 +2.97% US 10Y 5.01% +1 bp BTC 76,150.32 +0.71% ETH 2,416.12 +0.71%

U.S. CLOSE EDITION

AXTI leads, ALHC lags — U.S. market close

SharpeIQ Research Desk · data as of 16 Sep 2026 close

A close-to-close read on the latest session across US equity indices, rates, commodities, the semiconductor complex and options volatility, with notable insider filings and headlines.

1 Movers. AXTI led gainers at +11.44%

2 Vol. 5 semis are realizing above implied (HV/IV > 1).

3 Laggards. ALHC led decliners at -16.01%.

1 Global Dashboard

Close-to-close moves across US equity indices, rates and crypto. Front-month contracts: WTI Crude -3.21%; Brent Crude -2.69%; Silver +1.66%.

Index / ContractLast1 Day1 Wk1 MoYTD52-Wk RangeTrend

US EQUITY INDICES

S&P 500 7,551.81 -0.45% -1.11% -2.50% +10.32% 6,343.72 7,798.99

Nasdaq Composite 25,978.43 -0.01% -1.05% -2.50% +11.77% 20,794.64 27,093.90

Dow Jones Industrial 51,461.90 -1.21% -1.75% -3.74% +7.07% 45,166.64 54,349.12

Russell 2000 2,858.81 -0.40% -2.14% -6.50% +15.19% 2,305.11 3,068.42

INTERNATIONAL

FTSE 100 (UK) 10,688.50 +0.29% +0.17% -0.30% +7.62% 9,214.00 10,910.60

DAX (Germany) 25,537.75 +0.53% -0.15% -2.26% +4.28% 22,300.75 26,569.99

RATES & VOLATILITY

CBOE VIX 17.71 +2.97% +7.59% +16.59% +18.46% 13.47 31.05

US 10-Year Yield 5.01% +1 bp +17 bp +28 bp +84 bp 3.95% 5.01%

US 30-Year Yield 5.35% -1 bp +6 bp +4 bp +51 bp 4.54% 5.36%

US 5-Year Yield 4.86% +3 bp +25 bp +48 bp +114 bp 3.51% 4.86%

CRYPTO (24H)

Bitcoin 76,150.32 +0.71% -1.33% -3.64% -12.98% 58,558.86 124,752.53

Ethereum 2,416.12 +0.71% -3.92% -3.60% -18.57% 1,564.82 4,687.77

ENERGY

WTI Crude 102.43 -3.21% +6.64% +21.22% +78.39% 55.27 112.95

Brent Crude 105.83 -2.69% +4.56% +16.46% +73.92% 58.92 118.35

Natural Gas 2.89 -0.96% +2.45% +7.47% -21.57% 2.52 7.46

METALS

Gold 4,387.50 +1.26% -1.64% -1.93% +1.07% 3,768.10 5,318.40

Silver 64.29 +1.66% -5.38% -2.77% -8.34% 43.78 115.08

Copper 6.43 +0.99% -5.47% -2.61% +14.24% 4.54 6.80

Table 1. Close-to-close through 16 Sep. Rate changes in basis points; crypto is 24-hour; commodities are front-month contracts. Trend = trailing two weeks.

2 Semiconductors & Technology

Semiconductor and megacap-tech price action by horizon.

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPLEX — PRICE & VOLATILITY

TickerNameSpot1 Day1 WkYTDATM IVIV %ile30d HVHV/IV

NVDA NVIDIA 213.90 +0.82% -4.26% +14.83% 33% 7th 41% 1.24

AMD Adv. Micro Devices 512.50 +1.65% -1.65% +139.31% 51% 25th 51% 1.01

AVGO Broadcom 339.51 +0.07% -6.83% -1.54% 36% 2nd 35% 0.97

AMAT Applied Materials 415.38 -1.37% -11.40% +62.04% 49% 35th 46% 0.95

TXN Texas Instruments 260.67 -1.05% -0.35% +52.78% 38% 51st 29% 0.76

MU Micron 926.55 -0.11% -9.85% +224.82% 59% 15th 51% 0.87

SNDK SanDisk 1,519.97 -0.71% -13.84% +540.31% 68% 6th 93% 1.35

WDC Western Digital 416.97 +1.22% -13.54% +142.22% 63% 17th 73% 1.16

STX Seagate 783.18 +1.47% -11.60% +184.39% 65% 30th 66% 1.02

Table 2. Price by horizon + at-the-money implied vol (≈30-day, annualized), 52-week IV percentile, trailing 30-session realized vol and HV/IV. HV/IV > 1.0 (highlighted) = realizing more than implied. Memory/storage tickers highlighted.

MEGACAP TECHNOLOGY

TickerNameSpot1 DayYTDTrend

AAPL Apple 332.41 +0.32% +22.61%

MSFT Microsoft 490.30 -1.37% +2.02%

GOOGL Alphabet 342.87 -0.61% +9.76%

AMZN Amazon 245.96 -0.99% +6.56%

META Meta Platforms 673.31 +0.46% +2.18%

TSLA Tesla 358.08 +0.42% -20.38%

NFLX Netflix 76.41 -1.91% -18.50%

Table 3. Same conventions as Table 2 (price only).

IMPLIED VS REALIZED — SEMIS

Figure 1. Above the dashed parity line = realizing more than options imply. Memory/storage highlighted.

3 Session Movers

The session's largest one-day moves in the liquid optionable universe.

TOP GAINERS

TickerNameLast1 Day

AXTI Axt Inc 64.30 +11.44%

ARQT Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. 26.14 +11.19%

FPS Forgent Power Solutions, Inc. 34.84 +11.10%

SMTC Semtech Corp 167.55 +11.03%

CIFR Cipher Digital Inc. 16.72 +10.80%

LITE Lumentum Holdings Inc. 919.40 +9.59%

TOP LOSERS

TickerNameLast1 Day

ALHC Alignment Healthcare, Inc. 8.71 -16.01%

JBHT Hunt J B Transport Services Inc 236.73 -13.30%

BULL Webull Corp 7.69 -11.20%

PLSE Pulse Biosciences, Inc. 49.61 -10.13%

BLSH Bullish 32.08 -9.99%

ON On Semiconductor Corp 66.60 -9.02%

Table 4. Largest one-day moves, liquid U.S. optionable universe (known market cap ≥ $2B). Bars scaled within each panel.

4 Options & Implied Volatility

ATM implied-volatility movers and the semiconductor vol board.

ATM IV RISERS

TickerNameATM IVΔ 1 DayIV %ile

AMD Advanced Micro Devices Inc 51% +1.11% 25th

AVGO Broadcom Inc. 36% +0.95% 2nd

MU Micron Technology Inc 59% +0.63% 15th

SNDK Sandisk Corp 68% +0.63% 6th

ATM IV CRUSH

TickerNameATM IVΔ 1 DayIV %ile

STX Seagate Technology Holdings Plc 65% -2.38% 30th

WDC Western Digital Corp 63% -0.79% 17th

TXN Texas Instruments Inc 38% -0.63% 51st

AMAT Applied Materials Inc /De 49% -0.48% 35th

NVDA Nvidia Corp 33% -0.16% 7th

Table 5. ATM implied-volatility movers across the semiconductor complex — Δ in vol points vs. prior close; percentile over 52 weeks.

5 Insider Filings, Desk Briefing & Week Ahead

Form 4 flow today: 31 buy / 9 sell prints (buy/sell ratio 3.44), led by UMC, NXPI, GOOGL.

Insider buy/sell ratio today 3.44 parity 1.00

FORM 4 FILINGS

FiledInsider · TitleTickerNameSideSharesValue

09-17 Liu Chitung · CFO & SVP UMC United Microelectronics Corp SELL 1,200,000 $170.8M

09-17 Liu Chitung · CFO & SVP UMC United Microelectronics Corp SELL 400,000 $58.0M

09-17 Micallef Andrew · EVP, Chief Operations Officer NXPI Nxp Semiconductors N.V. SELL 1,000 $226K

09-16 ARNOLD FRANCES · Director GOOGL Alphabet Inc. BUY 0 —

09-16 ARNOLD FRANCES · Director GOOGL Alphabet Inc. BUY 1 —

09-16 ARNOLD FRANCES · Director GOOGL Alphabet Inc. BUY 11 —

Table 6. Notable Form 4 filings; value = reported transaction value.

DESK BRIEFING

• SNDK — Sandisk Corp announced an executive/board change (SEC 8-K).

• AMZN — Amazon enters AI safety fray, calls for "rigorous testing," safeguards · Reuters.

• AMZN — Generac Up on Amazon Agreement; Coreweave Kicks Off Fundraising | Stock Movers · Bloomberg.

• AMAT — Applied Materials to invest $5 billion in India as Modi's flagship chip event kicks off · Reuters.

• NVDA — 4 Investors Own More Nvidia Stock Than Its Founder Jen-Hsun Huang · Investor's Business Daily.

• AMD — Dow Jones Futures Rise After Hawkish Fed, Warsh Hit Stocks, Trump Fumes; AMD, Bloom Energy Eye Buy Points · Investor's Business Daily.

• AMD — AMD, IBD Stock Of The Day, Gains As Heavyweights Dismiss AI Slowdown · Investor's Business Daily.

• CIFR — Bitcoin Fades, Cipher Leads Miners Higher After Fed, Energy News · Investor's Business Daily.

THE WEEK AHEAD

WhenEvent

Tue 22 Sep AZO earnings — in 5 days

Wed 23 Sep CTAS earnings — in 6 days

Wed 23 Sep GIS earnings — in 6 days

Wed 23 Sep PAYX earnings — in 6 days

Thu 24 Sep DRI earnings — in 7 days

Thu 24 Sep COST earnings — in 7 days

Table 7. Upcoming earnings, next three weeks.

For informational purposes only — not investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Data may contain errors or omissions.

DAILY MARKET BRIEFING sharpeiq.com/research 16 SEPTEMBER 2026