What the session actually did

The S&P 500 closed the move up 98.24 points, or 1.29 per cent, at 7,710.93, its first record high since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 891.80 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 54,070.21 and the Nasdaq Composite 541.96 points, or 2.09 per cent, to 26,455.86. Three indices, three different sizes of gain, and the largest one belongs to the index with the least industrial weight.[1]

Two inputs arrived in the same hours. Palantir rose 27.52 per cent after raising its annual revenue forecast, Caterpillar 6.88 per cent, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index 6.35 per cent. At the same time Brent crude fell 3.30 dollars, or 3.9 per cent, to 80.47 dollars a barrel and West Texas Intermediate 3.67 dollars, or 4.6 per cent, to 76.67 dollars, after the Treasury Secretary said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached within days.[1], [2]

Breadth tells you which input travelled

Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by 2.11 to one on the New York Stock Exchange and by 2.57 to one on the Nasdaq, with 18 new 52-week highs against three new lows. Of the 304 index members that had reported second-quarter results, 85.2 per cent came in above estimates, against a historical average of 67.5 per cent.[1]

A move carried only by a handful of software and semiconductor names does not usually produce a two-to-one advance-decline ratio on both exchanges. A 5 per cent fall in the energy input, which reaches transport, chemicals, packaging and consumer margins at once, is the input in this session that can plausibly reach that many issues.[1], [2]

One of the two has a signature on it

The energy input rests on statements. Marco Rubio said talks with Iran and Oman had progressed on increasing shipping through the waterway, while cautioning that no final agreement had been reached. Iranian sources said Tehran wanted control over inbound shipping and visibility over outbound traffic, with the ability to intervene if necessary. Qatar's foreign ministry said the diplomatic effort was continuing.[2]

That difference gives a reader something to check. The 85.2 per cent beat rate belongs to quarters that have already been filed and will still be filed next week. The barrel at 80.47 dollars belongs to a sentence about a negotiation. If no agreement on the strait is announced by the end of the third quarter and Brent trades back above 80.47 dollars a barrel, the share of the 7,710.93 that arrived through the energy channel is handed back, while the share that came from filed second-quarter results is not.[1], [2]