Stocks Close Higher Friday as DIA Gains 0.94%, Industrials Lead

U.S. equity benchmarks finished higher on Friday, September 25, 2026. SPY, the S&P 500 tracking ETF, rose 0.54% to 771.35, while the Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ added 0.46% to 744.50. The Dow-tracking DIA gained 0.94% to 517.49, the strongest of the four, and the small-cap IWM edged up 0.11% to 281.97. All changes are measured close to close against Thursday's session.

Breadth across the eleven sector ETFs was positive, with eight advancing and three declining. Industrials (XLI) led with a 0.95% gain to 170.43, followed by Technology (XLK), up 0.80% at 196.27, and Financials (XLF), up 0.57% at 54.84. Health Care (XLV) rose 0.49% and Consumer Staples (XLP) added 0.44%. On the downside, Communication Services (XLC) fell 0.90% to 112.96, Energy (XLE) declined by a similar margin to 62.04, and Real Estate (XLRE) slipped 0.22% to 41.56.

Among the 62 large-cap stocks in the tracked universe, BKNG posted the biggest gain, rising 4.16% to 163.95. QCOM advanced 3.97% to 201.97, MSFT climbed 3.66% to 516.17, COST added 2.93% to 922.77 and TXN rose 2.74% to 278.07. META was the weakest name in the group, falling 3.34% to 751.66, while CRM lost 1.76%, ORCL fell 1.75%, NOW declined 1.57% and TSLA eased 1.54% to 372.11.

Small caps trailed the other benchmarks. IWM's 0.11% gain compared with 0.94% for DIA, a gap of 0.83 percentage point, and QQQ's advance was slightly smaller than SPY's.

Headlines published during the day framed the session as the end of an eventful week. A WSJ headline read "Stocks Rise to Cap Week of Increasing Yields, Volatile Oil Prices," and a separate WSJ item was titled "U.S. Stocks Rise To End Volatile Week." Barron's closing market column ran under the title "Review & Preview: Snapping the Streak."

Data

Data: FMP. Figures are close-to-close unless stated.

In the news

• WSJ: Stocks Rise to Cap Week of Increasing Yields, Volatile Oil Prices
• WSJ: U.S. Stocks Rise To End Volatile Week
• Barron's: Review & Preview: Snapping the Streak