Nasdaq Climbs, Dow Slips as Netflix Sinks 4.67%
A Fed rate hike failed to break the tape: the Nasdaq 100 proxy closed up 0.63% while the Dow tracker fell 0.48% and Netflix dropped 4.67% into the weekend.
US stocks finished Friday, 18 September 2026 split after absorbing a Federal Reserve rate hike, with the Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ closing up 0.63% at $721.45, the Dow tracker DIA down 0.48% at $515.88 and Netflix falling 4.67% to 71.79.
The week ended without a verdict. After absorbing a Federal Reserve rate hike, the major US equity benchmarks split three ways at Friday's close: technology carried the day, the blue chips gave ground, and the broad market landed almost exactly where it started.
Based on the exchange-traded funds that track them, the Nasdaq 100 (NASDAQ: QQQ) finished at $721.45, up 0.63% from the prior close of $716.92, near the top of a day range of $715.08 to $721.73. The Dow 30 tracker (NYSEARCA: DIA) closed at $515.88, down 0.48% from $518.35, after trading between $514.15 and $517.08. The S&P 500 proxy (NYSEARCA: SPY) ended at $761.69, off 0.12% from $762.60, with a $757.97 to $762.00 range. All figures are as of the last trade at 20:00 GMT on Friday, 18 September 2026.
The gap between the two ends of the market is the story of the session. Roughly 1.1 percentage points separated the Nasdaq 100's gain from the Dow's loss — an unusually wide split for a day in which the S&P 500 barely moved. That is what happens when a handful of large-cap technology names pull one index up while cyclicals, industrials and rate-sensitive blue chips pull another down.
A rate hike the tape refused to respect
The more notable fact is what did not happen. The Federal Reserve raised rates, and equities did not break. As Investor's Business Daily framed it, the market fought back after the Fed decision to close the week mixed rather than lower.
A hike is a tightening of financial conditions: borrowing gets more expensive for companies and households, and the discount rate applied to future corporate earnings goes up, which mechanically compresses the value investors place on profits arriving years from now. Growth stocks — the ones whose cash flows sit furthest out in the future — are supposed to suffer most from that arithmetic. On Friday they did the opposite, leading. That inversion is worth watching, because it usually means one of two things: either investors think the hiking cycle is close to finished, or they believe the earnings power of the largest technology franchises is strong enough to outrun a higher discount rate.
The Dow's underperformance fits the more conventional reading. A price-weighted index of thirty large, mostly mature businesses is more exposed to the parts of the economy that feel higher borrowing costs directly — manufacturing, capital spending, consumer credit. When the Nasdaq rises and the Dow falls on the same afternoon, the market is not expressing a single view about rates. It is expressing two.
Netflix takes the week's heaviest single-name hit
Against that mixed backdrop, Netflix (NFLX) was the conspicuous casualty. The shares closed at 71.79, down 4.67% from a prior close of 75.31, and spent the session in a range of 70.11 to 72.38. The close sat in the lower half of that band, which tells you sellers were still in control into the bell rather than the stock stabilising after an early drop.
A near-5% single-day decline in a widely held, heavily traded large cap is not noise. It is the kind of move that comes from a change in how investors model the business rather than from index-level drift — particularly on a day when the Nasdaq 100, which Netflix sits inside, closed higher. The stock moved decisively against its own benchmark, and that divergence is the clearest signal in the day's data: whatever weighed on Netflix was specific to Netflix.
For holders, the practical question heading into next week is whether the drop finds a floor near the session low or extends. For everyone else, the relevant point is narrower: the streaming name did not drag the technology complex with it. Breadth within the Nasdaq 100 was sufficient to absorb the loss and still finish up 0.63%.
Washington and Beijing set the next catalyst
The macro calendar now points away from the Fed and toward a meeting between President Trump and President Xi. That single event has the potential to matter more to the next few sessions than anything in Friday's price action.
Trade policy between the United States and China is the variable that sits underneath a large share of the earnings the market is currently pricing. Tariff schedules, export controls on advanced semiconductors, rare-earth and critical-mineral supply, agricultural purchases and the status of Chinese-listed technology firms all flow through the same negotiating channel. A constructive meeting tends to lift the most globally exposed parts of the index — semiconductors, machinery, autos, agriculture. A sour one tends to compress them and push money toward domestically insulated names.
That is the asymmetry investors will be positioning for. It also helps explain why a Fed hike produced such a muted aggregate response: with a bilateral summit of this significance ahead, a rate decision that was at least partly anticipated is not the biggest unresolved question on the board.
What to track when trading resumes
Three things are worth watching from here.
- Whether the Nasdaq–Dow split persists. One session of divergence is a rotation; several in a row is a regime. If technology keeps leading while blue chips lag through a tightening cycle, it changes what a balanced equity allocation actually looks like.
- Where Netflix opens relative to 70.11. The session low is the reference point. A hold above it suggests the selling was a one-day repricing; a break below suggests more work to do.
- The tone out of the Trump–Xi meeting. Specifics on tariffs and export controls will move sectors far more than the headline photograph will move the index.
None of this resolves the central tension. The Fed is still tightening, the market is still paying up for the largest technology franchises, and the single most consequential near-term input — the state of US–China trade — is being decided in a room rather than on a screen. Friday's close, with the S&P 500 proxy down a twelfth of a percent, was an honest reflection of that: a market that has not made up its mind and is not pretending otherwise.
Key facts
- Nasdaq 100 (QQQ): $721.45, +0.63%, as of 20:00 GMT, 18 Sep 2026
- Dow 30 (DIA): $515.88, -0.48% on the day
- S&P 500 (SPY): $761.69, -0.12% on the day
- NFLX: 71.79, -4.67%, day range 70.11–72.38
Frequently asked questions
How did the major US indices close on 18 September 2026?
Measured by their tracking funds, the Nasdaq 100 proxy QQQ closed at $721.45, up 0.63%. The Dow 30 tracker DIA finished at $515.88, down 0.48%. The S&P 500 proxy SPY ended at $761.69, down 0.12%. All prices are as of the last trade at 20:00 GMT on Friday, 18 September 2026, after which the market closed.
How far did Netflix shares fall?
Netflix closed at 71.79, a decline of 4.67% from the prior close of 75.31. The stock traded between 70.11 and 72.38 during the session and finished in the lower half of that range, indicating selling pressure persisted into the close rather than easing after an initial drop.
Why did stocks rise after a Federal Reserve rate hike?
A rate hike normally pressures equities by raising borrowing costs and the discount rate applied to future profits. On this occasion the Nasdaq 100 still closed higher, which typically signals that investors either believe the tightening cycle is near its end or judge large-cap technology earnings strong enough to offset a higher discount rate.
Why did the Dow fall while the Nasdaq rose?
The Dow is a price-weighted index of thirty largely mature companies with heavier exposure to manufacturing, capital spending and consumer credit — the areas that feel higher borrowing costs most directly. The Nasdaq 100 skews toward large technology franchises. On this session those two groups moved in opposite directions, separating the indices by about 1.1 percentage points.
What is at stake in the Trump-Xi meeting?
US-China talks govern tariff schedules, export controls on advanced semiconductors, critical-mineral and rare-earth supply, agricultural purchases and the treatment of Chinese-listed technology firms. A constructive outcome tends to support globally exposed sectors such as semiconductors, machinery, autos and agriculture, while a poor one pushes investors toward domestically insulated businesses.
Did Netflix's drop pull the wider technology sector down?
No. Netflix fell 4.67% on a day when the Nasdaq 100 tracker it belongs to closed up 0.63%. That divergence indicates the selling was specific to Netflix rather than sector-wide, and that breadth across the rest of the index was sufficient to absorb the loss and still finish the session higher.
Sources
- Stock Market Mixed After Post-Fed Fight Back, Netflix Dives; Trump-Xi Meeting Now Up Next — Investors Business Daily
