Key Highlights

● The Nasdaq-100 rose 161.72 points, outpacing other indexes.

● Heavy weighting toward chipmakers helped the index.

● The index has little exposure to utilities and financials.

● Nvidia lagged even as most of the index's chip names rallied.

The Nasdaq-100 rose 161.72 points, outpacing every major US benchmark, as the index, which tracks the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq, benefited from a powerful rally in semiconductor stocks. By comparison, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq Composite all posted smaller gains.

The Nasdaq-100 is heavily weighted toward technology, and on a day when tech was the best-performing sector and chipmakers led the way, that concentration paid off.

Concentration Worked in Its Favor

The chip index rose for a fourth straight session, with memory makers the stars after South Korea's SK hynix reported a record quarter and said it sees the memory shortage lasting into 2030. Micron Technology, a Nasdaq-100 member, climbed strongly, along with Applied Materials and Lam Research.

Part of the Nasdaq-100's edge came from what it does not hold, since the index excludes financial companies and has little exposure to utilities and real estate, two of the weakest sectors as long-dated Treasury yields climbed.

Not Every Heavyweight Helped

Nvidia, one of the index's largest members, slipped during the regular session, lagging the chip rally, while Microsoft finished little changed ahead of its earnings and Alphabet rose before its own report.

The gain was also tested quickly after hours, when Alphabet slid sharply in extended trading after missing earnings and revenue estimates, pulling Nasdaq-100 futures lower overnight even as Microsoft rose on its own beat.