Fewer than forty companies have a market cap above $245 billion, but Oracle (ORCL) rose 36% on Wednesday to add that much in a single day after reporting earnings the prior evening. ORCL saw the third-largest single day increase in value of all time, sitting behind only Nvidia’s two best days in 2024. As a result, Oracle is now the tenth-largest company in the US, overtaking both J.P. Morgan (JPM) and Walmart (WMT). Meanwhile, founder Larry Ellison surpassed Elon Musk to become the richest person, with his net worth rising by ~$100 billion.

Movement Wednesday saw ORCL break a double top at $260 and reaching an intraday high above $336. The 5 for 5'er shifted up from a 4 in June after reversing into a column of Xs against the market and has been on a market RS buy signal since 2020. Trough to peak, the stock is up roughly 170%, an impressive move for a stock with a market cap this large. However, ORCL now sits in heavily overbought territory, so wait for the 10-week trading band to normalize before considering.

Although revenue for ORCL came in slightly below expectations, the bullish sentiment from investors can be traced to the company's optimistic revenue outlook for its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) business line, which offers cloud computing services for large companies. Oracle announced that it signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three large customers in the previous quarter, with the expectation of signing additional multibillion-dollar contracts in the future, resulting in a 359% increase in its contract backlog. This new demand for ORCL's OCI services, driven largely by huge AI players needing cost-efficient and reliable computing services, is expected to increase the company's (projected) revenue of $18B in 2026 to $144B by 2030, a compounded increase of 68% year-over-year.

The success of Oracle served as another sign of confidence in the broader technology space, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) gaining 1.8% on the day—the most of any major sector. As mentioned in today’s featured article, tech has surged recently as AI enthusiasm continues. However, not all areas of the sector have benefited equally. Areas focused more on infrastructure for AI development and training, such as semiconductors and cloud computing, have been relatively stronger. The table below shows the fund score and performance of funds for different subsectors within technology, with the VanEck Semiconductor (SMH) and First Trust Cloud Computing (SKYY) ETFs holding fund scores above that of the broader sector (XLK). Meanwhile, technology companies focused more on the implementation of AI, such as software and cybersecurity companies, are lagging the broader sector in strength. The technology sector as a whole continues to look strong, but securities involved in AI infrastructure hold the lead for now, with the ascent from Oracle serving as the most recent example.

Action over the past week has brought two notable changes to the NDW DALI Sector Rankings with Technology and Basic Materials climbing to 2^nd and 5^th, respectively. Technology overtook Financials for 2^nd for the first time since very early February this year, while Basic Materials is in the top half of the DALI Sector Rankings for the first time since December 2023. Technology is now the most improved sector within DALI for the third quarter, while Basic Materials still maintain as the most improved within the sector rankings on a year-to-date basis.

Technology

While Semiconductors have often taken the limelight within Technology, recent improvement from a relative strength has brought a rising tide for the remainder of the sector. An intriguing example of financials yielding strength to technology can be found on the relative strength of SPDR Select Sector Technology Fund (XLK) versus the iShares Insurance ETF (IAK). While technology has been steadily on the rise in terms of DALI tally signal, insurance has now become one of, if not the weakest subsector within financials. This comes after insurance had been a stalwart for financials, and while the sector still ranks 3^rd within the DALI sector rankings, much of that strength comes from banks and brokers.

While Communication Services and Technology have ranked 1^st and 3^rd (or vice versa) at points through DALI’s history, this marks the first time that the two sectors rank as the top two. With the correlation between the two sectors being high relative to others, this gives DALI a tilt toward technology and communication as the major themes.

Basic Materials

While precious metal stocks have rallied alongside gold and other metals recently positive relative strength has persisted for quite some time and ultimately sustained the basic materials sector and the broader commodities asset class in their current positions within DALI’s RS rankings. In some cases, like that for the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX), the ETF has maintained a market relative strength buy signal since May 2024. To dive into more on action within gold specifically, check out last Friday’s (9/5) feature from the Daily Equity Report.

Recent positive relative strength for the basic materials sector has come from other subsectors, like steel. The VanEck Steel Index ETF (SLX) has rallied 6% in Q3 so far, placing the fund up 20% on a year-to-date basis.  SLX has maintained a positive near-term market RS against the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEWI) since March of this year, and returned to a peer RS buy signal against the SPDR Select Sector Materials Fund (XLB) in July. Similarly, SLX returned to an RS buy signal against the SPDR Select Sector Utilities Fund (XLU) in July after having been on an RS sell signal since May of last year – providing evidence of basic materials moving above utilities within DALI. Last Friday’s action brought the RS chart against XLU back into a column of Xs, favoring SLX, and giving SLX positive near and long-term RS.

Given SLX recent rally and potential upcoming test of resistance in the mid-$70s, a partial position could be considered here while investors see if the fund show additional upside. Initial support can be found at $67. Additionally, the recent rally to highs by mining relative funds (example (GDX)) will likely cause investors to hit pause on additional exposure at this time. Look for consolidation at current price levels or a pullback toward the middle of the 10-week trading band before considering.

Each week the analysts at NDW review and comment on all major asset classes in the global markets. Shown below is the summary or snapshot of the primary technical indicators we follow for multiple areas. Should there be changes mid-week we will certainly bring these to your attention via the report.

Remember, these are technical comments only. Just as you must be aware of fundamental data for the stocks we recommend based on technical criteria in the report, so too must you be aware of important data regarding delivery, market moving government releases, and other factors that may influence commodity pricing. We try to limit our technical comments to the most actively traded contracts in advance of delivery, but some contracts trade actively right up to delivery while others taper off well in advance. Be sure you check your dates before trading these contracts. For questions regarding this section or additional coverage of commodities email james.west@nasdaq.com.

Data represented in the table below is through 09/10/2025:

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