Market Summary
U.S. equities traded in a mixed, choppy fashion at midday as investors awaited Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s 1:00 p.m. ET press conference on the economic pressure campaign against Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed, adding 182.58 points (+0.34%) to 53,459.59, while the S&P 500 slipped 9.67 points (-0.13%) to 7,664.70 and the Nasdaq Composite lagged with a decline of 98.53 points (-0.38%) to 26,102.96. The divergence reflects continued rotation away from semiconductor and mega-cap growth names and into more defensive, value-oriented areas of the market.
Renewed weakness in chipmakers was the dominant theme of the session, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index down roughly 3.8% and dragging the Information Technology sector down about 1.6%. NVIDIA extended its losing streak to a seventh consecutive session — its longest since 2022 — ahead of Wednesday’s highly anticipated earnings report. Offsetting the tech drag, a $2.08 (-2.4%) pullback in WTI crude to $85.00/bbl and easing Treasury yields provided a tailwind for broader market sentiment, lifting Consumer Staples (+1.5%), Financials (+1.3%), and Communication Services (+1.2%) to the top of the sector leaderboard. Five of the “Magnificent Seven” names traded higher, led by Alphabet and Meta Platforms, even as NVIDIA and Tesla weighed on the growth complex.
Elsewhere, steel stocks rallied sharply after weekend U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed, resulting in a 50% tariff on select Canadian imports — a boon for domestic steel producers but a headwind for auto manufacturers reliant on steel inputs. Breadth was roughly balanced on the NYSE (1,314 advancers vs. 1,283 decliners) but more negative on the Nasdaq (1,756 advancers vs. 2,390 decliners), underscoring the narrow, tech-driven nature of today’s softness.
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,459.59 | +182.58 | +0.34% |
| S&P 500 | 7,664.70 | -9.67 | -0.13% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,102.96 | -98.53 | -0.38% |
Breadth (NYSE): 1,314 advancers / 1,283 decliners | Volume: 228.83 mln
Breadth (Nasdaq): 1,756 advancers / 2,390 decliners | Volume: 3.62 bln
WaveFinder Breadth Metrics:
- Primary Sentiment: Very Bullish | 4% Sentiment: Bearish | 40 SMA Sentiment: Neutral
- Primary Bulls: 1,150 | Bears: 777
- 4% Bulls: 82 | Bears: 130
- Stocks Above 20-Day SMA: 44%
- Stocks Above 40-Day SMA: 51.62%
- 9-Month Bulls: 9 | Bears: 14 (Bull Follow-Through: 9.76%)
Sector Performance
Ranked by available performance data (Briefing.com Industry Watch + intraday commentary):
1. Consumer Staples — +1.5% (top performer)
2. Financials — +1.3%
3. Communication Services — +1.1% to +1.2% (Alphabet, Meta Platforms leading)
4. Materials — Strong (steel names rallying on Canada tariff news)
5. Real Estate — Strong
6. Consumer Discretionary — Strong
7. Health Care — Weak
8. Energy — -1.3% (crude oil pullback weighing on sector)
9. Industrials — Weak
10. Information Technology — -1.6% (semiconductor-led weakness)
11. Utilities — Not specified in today’s Industry Watch
Note: The S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index was roughly flat, outperforming the market-cap-weighted index, underscoring the concentrated nature of today’s tech-driven softness.
Key Earnings & Movers
- Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) 11.74, +0.46 (+4.13%) — Rallying on U.S.-Canada steel tariff news
- Nucor (NUE) 248.06, +4.43 (+1.82%) — Beneficiary of 50% Canadian steel tariff
- Steel Dynamics (STLD) 232.86, +4.18 (+1.83%) — Domestic steel protection tailwind
- General Motors (GM) 86.38, -1.55 (-1.76%) — Pressured as steel consumer
- Ford Motor (F) 13.82, -0.59 (-4.09%) — Steel tariff cost concerns
- NVIDIA (NVDA) 209.28, -5.44 (-2.53%) — Seventh straight lower session, longest since 2022; ahead of Wednesday earnings
- Tesla (TSLA) 358.27, -4.59 (-1.26%) — Laggard among mega-caps
- Alphabet (GOOG) 345.92, +4.17 (+1.22%) — Leading communication services strength
- Meta Platforms (META) 552.29, +2.39 (+0.43%) — Modest gain
- Jersey Mike’s (JMKE) 23.54, -0.32 (-1.34%) — Muted reaction to 17+ sell-side coverage initiations post-IPO quiet period expiration
- XPeng (XPEV) — New 52-week low following mixed Q2 results and soft Q3 delivery guidance
- PDD Holdings (PDD) — Lower on third consecutive quarterly revenue miss despite EPS beat
Stock Spotlight
XPeng (XPEV) shares fell to a new 52-week low following a mixed second-quarter report. The Chinese smart EV maker posted an adjusted loss of RMB1.29 per ADS ($0.19), with revenue rising 8% yr/yr to RMB19.74 bln ($2.91 bln). Total deliveries of 103,295 vehicles jumped nearly 65% sequentially off a weak Q1 but were roughly flat year-over-year. The core disappointment centered on Q3 guidance: deliveries are projected at 115,000-121,000 vehicles — essentially flat yr/yr growth — while revenue guidance of RMB21.7-23.4 bln implies just 6-15% yr/yr growth.
Beneath the headline numbers, overall gross margin expanded 340 bps yr/yr to 20.7%, though vehicle margin declined 220 bps to 12.1% amid a product-generation transition. Services and other revenue nearly doubled yr/yr, aided by technical R&D services provided to another automaker. Adjusted net loss widened to RMB1.24 bln from RMB0.39 bln as R&D expense climbed 32% yr/yr. In a notable side development, XPeng’s robotics subsidiary Dogotix raised over $900 mln in its first outside funding round at a post-money valuation above $6.3 bln, supporting the company’s push into humanoid robotics and Physical AI — a longer-term positive that is being overshadowed today by muted near-term delivery growth and margin pressure.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries held modest gains at midday, with longer tenors outperforming as buying picked up over the past 90 minutes. The 10-yr note was last quoted +7/32 with a yield of 4.698%.
Yield Check:
- 2-yr: UNCH at 4.23%
- 3-yr: -2 bps to 4.29%
- 5-yr: -3 bps to 4.40%
- 10-yr: -4 bps to 4.70%
- 30-yr: -4 bps to 5.23%
Currencies: USD/JPY 159.10 | EUR/USD 1.1670
The rally in Treasuries was supported by falling crude oil prices and positioning ahead of Treasury Secretary Bessent’s 1:00 p.m. ET press conference on Iran sanctions, which markets anticipate may also touch on the Treasury’s expanded buyback plans (the Treasury’s general account, near $1 trillion, has been floated by CNBC as a potential buyback funding source).
Commodities
- WTI Crude Oil: $85.00/bbl, -$2.08 (-2.4%) — Easing on demand/geopolitical repositioning ahead of Bessent’s Iran remarks
- Gold: $4,718.00/ozt, +0.8% (overnight reading)
- Copper: $6.599/lb, +0.2% (overnight reading)
- Silver: No data provided
Overseas Markets
Overnight action was relatively quiet, with other sovereign debt markets showing limited movement and global equities mixed. Key overnight developments:
- U.S. Dollar Index: +0.2% to 98.98
- USD/CNH: +0.1% to 6.7232
- GBP/USD: UNCH at 1.3638
- USD/JPY: +0.1% to 159.06
Asia/Pacific: Japan’s Ministry of Finance is expected to set its assumed FY27/28 interest rate at 3.8% for debt cost calculations; Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Himino is expected to hint at further rate hikes in a Thursday speech. Singapore’s July CPI fell 0.2% m/m but rose 2.2% yr/yr. New Zealand Q2 Retail Sales fell 0.5% qtr/qtr (vs. +0.1% expected), with Core Retail Sales up 0.7% qtr/qtr (vs. +0.3% expected).
Europe: ECB policymaker Cipollone said he sees no signs of stagflation in the eurozone.
Trade: Weekend U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed, triggering a 50% U.S. tariff on select Canadian goods; Canada is set to implement retaliatory tariffs on September 8.
Economic Data
No economic data was released today (per Briefing.com’s overnight summary: “No Data on Today’s Schedule”). Market focus remains on this afternoon’s Bessent press conference on Iran sanctions at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Looking Ahead
- Today, 1:00 p.m. ET: Treasury Secretary Bessent press conference on economic pressure campaign against Iran (potential commentary on Treasury buyback plans)
- Tomorrow: August Consumer Confidence (Briefing.com consensus 90.6; prior 90.8)
- Wednesday: July Personal Income/Outlays; second estimate of Q2 GDP (Briefing.com consensus 1.5%; prior 1.5%); NVIDIA (NVDA) earnings — key catalyst given shares remain ~10% below their mid-May record high and have traded sideways since mid-April
- Thursday-Saturday: Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium, themed “Financial Innovation: Implications for Payments and Policy”
- Friday: Fed Chairman Warsh delivers keynote address at Jackson Hole