Nasdaq hits record to start September | Airport screenings fall | Time for small caps?

The Nasdaq posted a record close to start September.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, SEP 01, 2021 EVENING BRIEF AS OF WED, SEP 01, 2021 • 04:11 ET DJIA 35312.53 -0.14% -48.20 S&P 500 4524.09 +0.03% +1.41 NASDAQ 15309.38 +0.33% +50.15   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 152.51 +0.68 +0.45% INTC 53.67 -0.39 -0.72% MSFT 301.83 -0.05 -0.02% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG WFC 43.45 -2.25 -4.92% AAPL 152.51 +0.68 +0.45% F 13.11 +0.08 +0.61% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 152.51 +0.68 +0.45% AMD 109.99 -0.73 -0.66% NVDA 224.41 +0.56 +0.25%   EDITOR'S NOTE The S&P 500 was largely flat on Wednesday to kick off the month of September while the Nasdaq Composite hit another all-time high.   But it was small cap stocks that made some of the biggest moves in the market.  The Russell 2000 index, the benchmark for that group, gained 0.6% Wednesday following a 2.1% gain in August.   The action in small cap stocks is tied to a bigger trade, according to analysts and investors, who say the shares move higher with value stocks and cyclical stocks and expect them to begin to outperform around the end of the year as Covid outbreaks peak and the economic data improves.   "To me, the biggest thing that's happening here is Covid and delta," said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group told CNBC. "We're setting ourselves up for a second round of a mini reopening where delta peaks and when it does, confidence returns, jobs reports pick up and that should take portfolio managers back towards cyclicals, small and international stocks." Still, September is generally a month investors look to for a pullback, especially this year since there hasn't been a correction of 5% since last October.   Solar stock Sunrun, whose stock is down about 30% for the year, jumped Wednesday after JPMorgan predicted a comeback that would take the shares 90% higher. The bank also added the stock to its top picks for September.   Zoom shares bounced on news that Ark's Cathie Wood bought 200,000 shares of the video conferencing company on the dip, when it crashed by about 16% Tuesday.  Tanaya Macheel | Markets and Investing Reporter @tanayamac TOP NEWS  S&P 500 closes flat on first day of September, Nasdaq ekes out a record close TSA airport screenings drop to lowest since May as travel and fares fall Private payrolls increase by just 374,000 in August, far short of the 600,000 estimate, ADP says Cathie Wood buys $56 million worth of Zoom Video on the dip, adds some Robinhood too Apple announces first states that will let you keep a digital version of your driver's license on your iPhone September is the toughest month for stocks, but this time could be different Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, says Biden's plan to tax assets at death would hurt family businesses WHO says it is monitoring a new Covid variant called 'mu' Mansion, once asking $39 million, sells for $4.6 million. Here's what happened Macquarie downgrades AMC on poor box office, predicts 80% stock decline   TOP VIDEO Dr. Gottlieb explains why Covid breakthrough cases are happening   CNBC PRO CNBC PRO Talks: Star small-cap manager Amy Zhang unveils her top stock picks   SPECIAL REPORTS Op-ed: What the Rolling Stones can teach us all about investing Financials took S&P 500 leadership in August, and traders see continued strength in two stocks   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS