727 FinanceBlockBeats news, on October 3, according to WSJ, the differentiation of the U.S. stock market significantly intensified in September. Although the S&P 500 index basically remained stable and the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3%, nearly 80% of the stocks in the S&P 500 index fell, with an average decline of about 5%. Among the 11 sectors, only the technology and communication services sectors rose. During the same period, the Russell 2000 index fell 5%, while the 50 largest stocks by market capitalization gained 2%.
Stocks that gained in September generally had ties to AI or the data center supply chain. At the same time, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield surged from 4.7% to 5.3%, and non-AI companies also faced the "triple pressure" of interest rates, energy prices, and AI companies competing for employees, equipment, and capital.
Arend Kapteyn, chief economist at UBS, said that excluding AI technology companies, U.S. capital spending is "basically zero." Corporate credit spreads have also begun to widen as funding costs rise, with spreads on lower-rated CCC bonds rising by more than 1 percentage point in September and exceeding levels last year during the U.S. tariff shock.
In addition, Wall Street's expectations for corporate earnings growth have also begun to cool. Christian Mueller-Glissmann, head of asset allocation research at Goldman Sachs, said earnings and earnings expectations grew rapidly in the first half of this year, but earnings growth momentum has begun to wane since the summer. The article believes that if bond yields and oil prices remain high, industries other than AI may continue to be under pressure, corporate profit growth will slow down, and credit risk concerns may further increase.