Tech ETF Holds Flat as Gainers Counter Fair Isaac Drop

The Information Technology sector saw balanced internal cross-currents on Tuesday, September 29, with 49.3% of stocks moving higher even as the cap-weighted sector closed -0.3% and the equal-weighted sector finished 0.0%. The sector's primary vehicle, Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, an exchange-traded fund trading under the ticker XLK, closed 0.0% at $194.48. EasyAlpha grades 66.5% of the fund at A or B quality relative to industry peers. Companies graded A or B have stronger fundamentals, and historically they have carried a lower risk of large drawdowns than companies graded D or E. The session saw a steep drag from Fair Isaac Corporation, which closed -26.7% after investors responded to reports that federal housing regulators plan to unify mortgage pricing grids and open broader access to competing credit scoring models.

The pressure on Fair Isaac Corporation came as regulators moved to integrate VantageScore directly into mortgage underwriting, raising concerns over long-term pricing power. That decline was counterbalanced by gains in other names across the sector. Lumentum Holdings Inc finished +5.7%, though our sources show no reported driver for the move, while Applied Materials Inc gained +5.2%. Meanwhile, NetApp announced it is bringing its storage operating system natively to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

The sector held steady on a session where only 3 of the 11 sectors rose across the broader market. Over broader horizons, XLK has advanced +4.7% over the past month, +14.6% over the past 100 sessions, and +46.3% across the past six months, though it remains -30.6% over the past twelve months. The fund holds $121.4 billion in net assets with an expense ratio of 0.08%.