Mega-Caps Steady the Tape as Dow Slips Gold Tops $4,000, Oil Holds Near $61

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Stocks finished mixed on Monday as large-cap growth helped offset weakness in smaller shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 226 points, or 0.48%, to 47,336.7, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.17% to 6,851.97 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.46% to 23,834.7. Small-caps lagged again, with the Russell 2000 proxy down 0.32% at 245.44.

Today’s pattern dovetailed with October’s “upbeat but uneven” finish: gains continue to cluster in mega-cap technology and AI-linked names while mid- and small-caps struggle, according to the October market recap in the provided research. Stabilizing Treasury yields and generally dovish Federal Reserve commentary helped rekindle risk appetite last month, but breadth stayed narrow and equal-weight indexes trailed their cap-weighted counterparts.

Sector leadership remained skewed. In October, technology led with a 6.7% surge, followed by health care (+3.7%) and utilities (+2.2%), while materials (–4.4%), communication services (–3%), real estate (–2.9%) and energy (–1.4%) lagged—an alignment consistent with today’s defensive tilt in small-caps even as growth benchmarks advanced.

Under the surface, participation indicators reflect a maturing advance rather than a breakdown: roughly 35–40% of stocks sit above their 20- and 50-day moving averages versus 55–60% above the 200-day, and the Keller Market Model still shows medium- and long-term uptrends across major indexes (with mid-caps flashing a short-term downtrend). In plain English, long-term momentum remains positive, but fewer stocks are carrying the day—leaving the rally dependent on a handful of leaders.

Commodities offered a mixed backdrop. Gold futures settled around $4,024.10, up 0.69% on the day, extending last month’s 3.6% climb, while U.S. crude hovered at $61.06, up 0.13%, after falling 2.4% in October. A stronger dollar in October (+2.3%) tempered some commodity gains, and natural gas remained volatile after a 24.6% monthly jump.

On the corporate front, AI infrastructure remains a central narrative: Amazon Web Services and OpenAI announced a multi-year partnership to deliver large-scale GPU capacity (GB200/GB300 clusters) with deployment targeted before end-2026 and expansion potential into 2027—supporting continued investment in AI workloads that have underpinned mega-cap leadership.