U.S. stocks traded higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 100 points. The index rose 0.37% to 26,960.69, supported by a 1.3% jump in energy shares. The ISM manufacturing PMI declined to 54.5 in September from 54.6 in August, missing market estimates of 55.

Market performance and sector trends

The broader market showed modest gains alongside the tech-led rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.06% to 50,936.24, while the S&P 500 rose 0.30% to 7,674.30. In trading on Wednesday, health care stocks fell by 1.2%. Real estate stocks lagged earlier in the week, falling 0.6%.

Key movers and commodities

Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) shares surged 18% to $216.07 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY27 sales guidance above estimates. Nexalin Technology Inc (NASDAQ: NXL) shares shot up 69% to $7.25 after signing a 10-year exclusive distribution deal with Inovanexa Medical Technologies covering seven Latin American markets. Veea Inc (NASDAQ: VEEA) gained 43% to $3.10 following an agreement with TROLLEE Holdings for the phased deployment of VeeaONE solutions across 1,000 unattended stores.

Conversely, Corteva Inc (NYSE: CTVA) shares dipped 84% to $12.15 after completing the spin-off of its advanced seed and genetics business Vylor. Sigma Lithium Corp (NASDAQ: SGML) fell 16% to $7.88 after BMO Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform with a $10 price target. Foghorn Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: FHTX) dropped 30% to $2.50 after discontinuing its SMARCA2 degrader collaboration with Lilly.

Commodity markets showed mixed movement. Oil rose 1.7% to $91.91, while gold climbed 0.1% to $4,192.70. Silver gained 0.8% to $61.030, but copper fell 0.8% to $6.5720.

Economic indicators

Recent U.S. economic data presented a mixed picture. The ISM manufacturing PMI declined to 54.5 in September from 54.6 in August, versus market estimates of 55. Construction spending increased by 0.9% month-over-month to an annual rate of $2,203 billion in August versus a revised 0.1% decrease in July. The S&P Global manufacturing PMI declined to 55.9 in September versus a preliminary reading of 57.0. U.S. jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 197,000 in the week ended Sept. 26, down from market estimates of 200,000. U.S. natural-gas stocks rose by 64 billion cubic feet during the week ending Sept. 25.

Global markets

European shares were lower on Thursday. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.2%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.7%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.9%, and France’s CAC 40 dipped 1.5%. Asian markets closed mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumping 3.3%, and India’s BSE Sensex falling 0.79%.

U.S. stocks traded lower toward the end of trading on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 150 points. The broader market decline coincided with a sharp correction in precious metals, as gold prices dropped significantly.

Market indices and sector performance

Major U.S. benchmarks closed in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 0.50% to 51,571.80, while the S&P 500 fell 0.57% to 7,699.44. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.63% to 26,897.56, reflecting pressure on technology-heavy components.

Sector performance was mixed. Energy shares rose by 0.3%, providing limited support to the broader market. In contrast, communication services stocks fell by 1.5%, contributing to the overall downward momentum.

Key corporate movements

Several high-profile equities drove significant volatility. MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ: MDB) shares dropped 17% to $339.65 after the company announced that CEO Chirantan Desai stepped down effective immediately to pursue a senior role at Meta Platforms.

In the financial sector, Nu Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NU) fell 9% to $12.37 following reports suggesting the company is in discussions to acquire UK digital bank Monzo for as much as $13 billion in cash and stock.

Conversely, some small-cap stocks saw substantial gains:

• Knorex Ltd (NYSE: KNRX) shares shot up 301% to $1.22 after announcing a strategic carve-out of AscendX Media Technologies Pte. Ltd.
• Kodiak Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: KOD) surged 185% to $92.20 after meeting primary endpoints in its Phase 3 DAYBREAK study.
• AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) gained 14% to $3.34 as investors weighed debt maturity extensions.

Commodity and global market trends

Precious metals faced heavy selling pressure. Gold traded down 3.5% at $4,171.10, while silver fell 4.8% to $61.690. Copper declined 1.8% to $6.6460. Crude oil remained relatively stable, trading down 0.1% to $92.39.

European markets were mixed, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 rising 0.01%. Asian markets closed lower, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipping 0.73% and India’s BSE Sensex falling 1.52%.

What the numbers show

The divergence between the energy sector's modest 0.3% gain and the communication services sector's 1.5% decline highlights a rotation away from growth-oriented tech and media stocks. This sectoral split occurred alongside a broad-based drop in major indices, suggesting that the market weakness was not isolated to a single industry but rather reflected a wider risk-off sentiment, exacerbated by the significant pullback in safe-haven assets like gold.