Market Summary
U.S. equities extended Wednesday’s rebound into a broad, accelerating midday advance on September 3. As of the 12:00 ET update, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 53,697.33, up 635.38 points (+1.20%); the Nasdaq Composite led major averages at 26,606.47, up 367.59 points (+1.40%); and the S&P 500 traded at 7,747.03, up 80.43 points (+1.05%). Gains widened steadily through the morning as Treasury yields moved lower and dovish-leaning commentary from Fed Governor Christopher Waller fueled speculation that the Fed will hold rates steady rather than hike at its next meeting.
The rally was broad-based, with nine of eleven S&P 500 sectors in positive territory at midday. Communication services and consumer discretionary paced the advance amid pronounced strength in mega-cap tech, while financials also outperformed as banking names such as Goldman Sachs rallied. A standout theme was the surge in crypto-related equities — Robinhood and Coinbase both posted double-digit percentage gains as Bitcoin approached $80,000. Materials and health care were the lone laggards. Beneath the headline strength, semiconductors remained a soft spot, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index nursing losses tied to Broadcom’s post-earnings sell-off, though the group pared its decline from over -2% at the open to roughly -0.4% by late morning.
Economic data released this morning was constructive on balance: the ISM Services PMI accelerated to 55.4% in August, comfortably above the 54.1% consensus, while a downward revision to Q2 unit labor costs (1.2% vs. 1.3% prior estimate) helped ease inflation concerns. A wider-than-expected July trade deficit ($88.6 billion) was flagged as a potential drag on Q3 GDP estimates, and jobless claims ticked up modestly but remained at levels consistent with a low-firing labor backdrop.
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,697.33 | +635.38 | +1.20% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,606.47 | +367.59 | +1.40% |
| S&P 500 | 7,747.03 | +80.43 | +1.05% |
Breadth (as of midday):
- NYSE: 1,661 advancers vs. 913 decliners; volume 244.89 mln shares
- Nasdaq: 2,536 advancers vs. 1,543 decliners; volume 3.79 bln shares
WaveFinder Market Breadth (2026-09-03):
- Primary Sentiment: Very Bullish (Bulls 992 / Bears 701)
- 4% Sentiment: Bullish (Bulls 113 / Bears 51)
- 40 SMA Sentiment: Neutral
- % of stocks above 20-day SMA: 8%
- % of stocks above 40-day SMA: 43.32%
- 9-Month Bulls: 33 / Bears: 12 (Follow-Through: 30.3%)
Sector Performance
Ranked using Briefing.com Industry Watch commentary supplemented with WaveFinder sector volatility (ATR) data:
Strong / Outperforming:
1. Communication Services — Strong; ATR 2.24% (falling, P53)
2. Consumer Discretionary — Strong; ATR -0.43% (falling, P11)
3. Financials — Strong (+1.4% intraday, led by Goldman Sachs); ATR 1.02% (falling, P63)
4. Real Estate — Strong; ATR -1.79% (falling, P5)
5. Utilities — Strong; ATR -1.76% (flat, P42)
Mixed / Not Explicitly Flagged:
6. Information Technology — +1.1% at session highs per Briefing commentary; ATR -1.42% (falling, P16)
7. Industrials — Not specifically flagged; ATR -1.47% (falling, P16)
8. Consumer Staples — Not specifically flagged; ATR 0.52% (flat, P32)
9. Energy — Not specifically flagged; ATR 3.59% (rising, P89)
Weak / Underperforming:
10. Materials — Weak; ATR 0.60% (falling, P5)
11. Health Care — Weak; ATR 2.20% (falling, P21)
Key Earnings & Movers
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) — 123.23, +16.24 (+15.18%): Leading S&P 500 gainers as Bitcoin surged nearly 5% and crossed $80,000.
- Coinbase Global (COIN) — 194.54, +19.58 (+11.19%): Rallied alongside crypto strength; CEO Brian Armstrong expressed confidence the CLARITY Act will clear a Senate closure vote on September 15.
- Goldman Sachs (GS) — 1,038.72, +34.30 (+3.41%): Led bank stocks higher within a broadly strong financials sector.
- Broadcom (AVGO) — 348.12, -19.12 (-5.21%) as of midday (earlier -5.81% at the 11:00 ET update): Fell despite beating Q3 EPS and revenue estimates, as investors wanted a larger AI-driven beat and a more aggressive Q4 outlook.
- Ciena (CIEN) — Traded sharply lower intraday despite a strong Q3 beat and raised FY27 framework; shares had been indicated up ~3% in premarket trade before reversing.
- NVIDIA (NVDA) — Announced acquisition of Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, including a $1.0 billion equity-based retention program.
- Premarket movers (per Page One): Snowflake (SNOW) +23%, Five Below (FIVE) +6% on earnings; NetApp (NTAP) -11%, Victoria’s Secret (VSXY) -10%, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) -5% among laggards.
Stock Spotlight
Broadcom (AVGO) is the session’s most consequential move, trading down roughly 5-6% (348.12, -19.12, -5.21% at midday) despite reporting record Q3 (July) revenue of $29.59 billion, up 85.5% year-over-year, and beating both EPS and revenue estimates. Semiconductor Solutions revenue jumped 127% yr/yr to $20.84 billion, and AI semiconductor revenue more than tripled yr/yr to $16.7 billion, exceeding prior guidance of $16.0 billion. Q4 guidance calls for total revenue of $34.8 billion (+93% yr/yr) and AI semiconductor revenue of $21.7 billion (+236% yr/yr), with management noting that both XPU and AI networking revenue are expected to triple year-over-year in Q4.
Despite these robust figures, the stock’s decline reflects elevated investor expectations rather than any deterioration in the underlying AI growth story. Broadcom is diversifying its custom accelerator exposure across Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and Meta — shipping Ironwood TPU v7 to Anthropic and Google, beginning TPU v8i production for Google, and shipping Jalapeño for OpenAI, with Meta’s MTIA accelerator shipments expected in Q4. However, gross margin is expected to compress to 73% in Q4 (from 75% in Q3) as AI accelerators comprise a larger mix of revenue, and the company’s commentary on FY27/FY28 — while confirming hyperscaler demand remains well ahead of supply — was not aggressive enough to satisfy investors positioned for a larger forecast raise.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries firmed for a second straight session, providing a tailwind for equities. As of the 10:25 ET bond market update, the 10-year note yield stood at 4.758%, down roughly 4 basis points from the prior close of 4.80%; a later equity-market commentary (11:35 ET) cited the 10-year at 4.75%, down 5 basis points on the session. The 2-year note yield fell 6 basis points to 4.33%, the 3-year declined 5 basis points to 4.40%, the 5-year fell 5 basis points to 4.51%, and the 30-year eased 3 basis points to 5.24%.
The move lower in yields was driven primarily by dovish-leaning remarks from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who acknowledged inflation remains meaningfully above the Fed’s 2.00% target but emphasized recent data showing signs of disinflation — comments the market interpreted as reducing the probability of a September rate hike. The CME FedWatch Tool assigned roughly a 49.6% probability to a key policy scenario following the remarks (specific scenario cut off in source data). Economic data, including firmer-than-expected ISM Services PMI (55.4%) and a downward revision to Q2 unit labor costs (1.2%), had limited additional impact on the yield move, which Briefing.com characterized as showing some technical dynamics alongside the fundamental drivers.
Commodities
- WTI Crude Oil: $92.07/bbl, +1.2% (as of the morning Page One update)
- Brent Crude Oil: $96.30/bbl, +0.7% (as of the morning Page One update)
- Gold, Silver, Copper: No pricing data provided in today’s source materials.
Notably, oil prices moved higher even as Treasury yields declined — a divergence Briefing.com flagged as unusual, since rising oil prices have typically coincided with higher bond yields, suggesting the yield move was driven more by technical and Fed-policy factors than by inflation expectations tied to energy costs.
Overseas Markets
Specific index-level data for Asian and European equity markets was not provided in today’s source materials. Available currency and macro data points include:
- USD/JPY: 155.48 (per 10:25 ET bond update), with the yen showing notable strength (155.73 cited in Page One) amid speculation of possible currency intervention; the U.S. Dollar Index was down roughly 0.4-0.5% on the session.
- EUR/USD: 1.1622-1.1625
- Services PMI readings (final, August): France 48.0 (deeper contraction than the 48.4 expected); Germany 49.7 (down slightly from 49.8 prior), both reflecting continued contraction in those economies’ service sectors, while most other major economies reported continued expansion.
- Policy watch: Germany’s Chancellor Merz is meeting with ECB officials ahead of next week’s policy meeting, which is expected to result in a rate hike. Separately, speculation continued around potential Bank of Japan policy action following remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent. China’s Securities Journal expects the yuan to continue appreciating moderately this year, and Japan is reportedly seeking to guide 40% of household assets into equities, investment trusts, and bonds by 2040 (up from 25% currently).
Economic Data
- ISM Services PMI (August): 55.4% (consensus 54.1%), up from 54.1% in July — signals accelerating services-sector growth, though the report noted no relief in input prices, raising risk of inflation pass-through.
- Trade Deficit (July): Widened to $88.6 billion (consensus -$89.6 billion) from an upwardly revised $71.2 billion in June — a potential drag on Q3 GDP estimates.
- Q2 Productivity: 1.4%, unchanged from the advance estimate, in line with expectations.
- Q2 Unit Labor Costs: Revised down to 1.2% (consensus 1.3%) from 1.3% in the advance estimate — helped ease inflation concerns.
- Initial Jobless Claims (week ended Aug. 29): 206,000, up 2,000 from prior week (consensus 205,000).
- Continuing Jobless Claims (week ended Aug. 22): 1.779 million, up 8,000 — labor market conditions remain consistent with a low-firing environment.
Looking Ahead
- September 15: Senate closure vote on the CLARITY Act, which would define SEC jurisdiction over digital assets — a key catalyst cited by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong for today’s crypto-equity rally.
- Next week: European Central Bank policy meeting, widely expected to result in a rate hike, with Germany’s Chancellor Merz meeting ECB officials in advance.
- Federal Reserve: Markets continue to reassess the odds of a September rate hike versus a hold, following dovish-leaning commentary from Fed Governor Waller; further Fed commentary and data will be watched for confirmation of the disinflation trend.
- Bank of Japan: Continued speculation around potential policy action and yen intervention following remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent.