# Market Summary
U.S. equities closed out a volatile week on a constructive note Friday, with the major averages bouncing back from Thursday’s broad selloff. The DJIA led the rebound, surging 517.80 points (+0.98%) to 53,277.01, while the S&P 500 added 33.21 points (+0.43%) to close at 7,674.37 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 113.29 points (+0.43%) to finish at 26,201.49. Broad participation across small- and mid-caps was a key feature, with the Russell 2000 outperforming at +0.9% and the S&P MidCap 400 rising in line with the S&P 500 at +0.4%.
The rebound was driven by stabilizing Treasury yields and oil prices following this week’s surge, though lingering weakness in semiconductors capped gains at the index level. Materials led all sectors as precious metals extended their August rally, while financials benefited from strength in banking and crypto-adjacent names. Health care and consumer discretionary also posted solid gains on company-specific catalysts, while utilities was the lone notable decliner among S&P 500 sectors.
Despite Friday’s strength, the week itself was a net negative for stocks. The S&P 500 fell 1.4%, the Nasdaq dropped 2.1%, and the DJIA lost 0.9% over the five sessions, as a sharp pullback in semiconductor and momentum names combined with rising oil prices and elevated Treasury yields pressured the broader tape. Attention now turns to next week’s PCE inflation data and NVIDIA’s earnings report, which will be the centerpiece of a busy catalyst-filled calendar.
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| DJIA | 53,277.01 | +517.80 | +0.98% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,201.49 | +113.29 | +0.43% |
| S&P 500 | 7,674.37 | +33.21 | +0.43% |
Breadth (NYSE/Nasdaq Composite Advance/Decline):
- NYSE: 1,652 advancers / 1,068 decliners | Volume: 1.16 bln
- Nasdaq: 3,147 advancers / 1,781 decliners | Volume: 7.44 bln
WaveFinder Market Breadth (as of 8/21):
- Primary Sentiment: Bullish | 40 SMA Sentiment: Neutral
- Primary Bulls: 857 | Bears: 526
- 4% Bulls: 274 | Bears: 77
- Above 20-day SMA: 60%
- Above 40-day SMA: 54.9%
- 9-Month Bulls: 31 | Bears: 9 (25% follow-through)
Year-to-Date Performance:
- Russell 2000: +21.6% YTD
- S&P MidCap 400: +15.9% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: +12.6% YTD
- S&P 500: +12.1% YTD
- DJIA: +10.9% YTD
Sector Performance
Ranked by Friday’s session performance (Briefing.com sector moves):
1. Materials +2.2% — precious metals rally lifted Newmont (+3.09%) and Freeport-McMoRan (+7.65%)
2. Health Care +1.3% — Moderna rebound (+8.86%)
3. Financials +1.0% — banking and crypto-linked strength (Robinhood, Coinbase)
4. Communication Services +0.9% — Alphabet, Meta gains
5. Consumer Discretionary +0.9% — Tesla, Target, Ross Stores catalysts
6. Industrials — cited among strong sectors (Briefing Industry Watch)
7. Information Technology ~flat — software strength offset semiconductor weakness
8. Energy -0.2% — crude little changed
9. Real Estate — weak (per Industry Watch)
10. Utilities -2.3% — largest S&P 500 sector decliner
11. Consumer Staples — not separately cited in Friday recap
WaveFinder Sector ATR (Volatility) Readings:
- Health Care: 3.58% (flat, P100)
- Communication Services: 2.41% (rising, P100)
- Energy: 3.39% (rising, P89)
- Materials: 1.88% (flat, P95)
- Consumer Staples: 0.83% (flat, P58)
- Financials: 0.88% (falling, P26)
- Consumer Discretionary: 0.55% (falling, P47)
- Real Estate: -0.21% (flat, P32)
- Technology: -1.05% (flat, P32)
- Industrials: -0.48% (falling, P0)
- Utilities: -2.41% (flat, P0)
Key Earnings & Movers
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) 108.13, +13.03 (+13.70%) — crypto-linked surge alongside Bitcoin rally
- Coinbase Global (COIN) 186.49, +14.14 (+8.20%) — Bitcoin extended weekly surge
- Moderna (MRNA) 145.13, +11.81 (+8.86%) — rebound after giving back part of Wednesday’s cancer-vaccine rally
- Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) 76.67, +5.45 (+7.65%) — precious metals rally
- Newmont Corporation (NEM) 131.58, +3.94 (+3.09%) — gold rally
- Tesla (TSLA) 362.86, +17.73 (+5.14%) — Nevada approved robotaxi services in Clark County
- Target (TGT) 165.42, +7.17 (+4.53%) — extended post-earnings momentum to multi-year high
- Ross Stores (ROST) 239.04, +10.05 (+4.39%) — beat-and-raise Q2 report
- Alphabet (GOOG) 341.75, +3.55 (+1.05%)
- Meta Platforms (META) 549.90, +4.07 (+0.75%)
- Marvell (MRVL) 237.04, -13.97 (-5.57%) — profit-taking after Wednesday’s ~10% surge on Alphabet custom-silicon deal
- NVIDIA (NVDA) 214.76, -2.09 (-0.96%) — reports earnings next Wednesday after the close
- Boston Beer (SAM) — lower after CFO Diego Reynoso’s planned September 14 departure; interim CFO Matt Murphy to step in
Stock Spotlight
Ross Stores (ROST) delivered one of the session’s most notable earnings-driven moves, climbing 4.39% to $239.04 following a strong Q2 (July) report. The off-price retailer beat expectations on both top and bottom lines, with revenue rising 13.3% year-over-year to $6.26 billion and EPS of $2.66 (including an approximate $0.60 tariff-refund benefit) still exceeding estimates on an adjusted basis. Comp sales increased a robust 10% — well above the company’s 6-7% plan and marking a second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, driven primarily by transaction gains from new, returning, and more-frequent existing shoppers.
Gross margin expanded 625 basis points year-over-year (605 bps operating margin expansion), though both figures included a 405 bp tariff-refund benefit; excluding that item, operating margin still expanded 205 bps on improved merchandise margin and lower distribution costs. Management raised its back-half outlook despite tougher comparisons, guiding to Q3 comp growth of 6-7% and Q4 growth of 4-5%, while lifting FY27 EPS guidance to $8.61-$8.77 — above expectations even after backing out the tariff benefit. The company also increased its FY27 store-opening plan to 115 locations from 110, citing recent openings performing ahead of plan.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries finished the week on a lower note, giving back a brief midweek boost tied to news that the Treasury will increase its buyback allowance for longer-dated securities. Friday’s session saw a steady retreat across tenors, with the 10-year yield finishing just below its 2026 high from late July.
Yield Levels (Friday close / weekly change):
- 2-Year: 4.23% (+4 bps Friday / +6 bps week)
- 3-Year: 4.31% (+4 bps Friday / +6 bps week)
- 5-Year: 4.42% (+4 bps Friday / +6 bps week)
- 10-Year: 4.74% (+4 bps Friday / +4 bps week)
- 30-Year: 5.28% (+4 bps Friday / +1 bp week)
Treasury Secretary Bessent reiterated this week that his office has “multiple tools” to address potential liquidity issues, though the market has remained in a “show me” mode. The U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.1% to 98.81 Friday, near its lowest level since mid-May, and fell 0.8% on the week.
Commodities
- WTI Crude Oil: $87.07/bbl, -1.2% (roughly flat on the session per equity narrative; up ~5.4%/nearly $5/bbl on the week)
- Gold: $4,680.10/ozt, +2.4% (+$110.50), extending August advance to nearly $600/ounce
- Silver: $69.56/ozt, +2.1%
- Copper: $6.59/lb, +1.9%
Overseas Markets
Overnight action ahead of Friday’s session was subdued across Asia and Europe, though a heavy batch of flash August PMI data pointed to solid global expansion:
- Japan: Flash August Manufacturing PMI 55.1 (in-line), eighth consecutive month of expansion; Services PMI 52.3
- Eurozone: Flash August Composite/Manufacturing PMI 52.8, expanding at fastest pace in over four years; Services PMI 51.7
- Germany: Manufacturing PMI 54.1 (beat, prior 52.2); Services PMI 48.5 (missed, prior 49.8)
- France: Manufacturing PMI 51.5 (beat, prior 49.8); Services PMI 48.4 (missed, prior 49.6)
- U.K.: Manufacturing PMI 51.5; Services PMI 52.8; July Retail Sales -0.5% m/m (worse than expected -0.4%)
- India: Manufacturing PMI 52.9 (missed 54.0 expected); Services PMI 54.5 (beat 53.8 expected)
- South Korea: August 1-20 exports up 56% yr/yr, with chip exports nearly tripling; finance ministry monitoring rising global bond yields
Currencies were little changed: EUR/USD flat at 1.1682, GBP/USD +0.2% to 1.3652, USD/JPY flat at 159.02, USD/CNH flat at 6.7206.
Economic Data
- Flash August S&P Global U.S. Services PMI: 56.8 (up from 54.6 in July) — notable acceleration in service-sector activity
- Flash August S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI: 53.2 (down from 53.9 in July) — modest deceleration but still firmly in expansion territory
The stronger services print helped support Friday’s risk-on tone alongside stabilizing yields and oil prices.
Looking Ahead
Monday: Nothing of note on the economic calendar.
Tuesday: June FHFA Housing Price Index (prior 0.3%); July S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index (consensus 1.8%, prior 1.6%) at 9:00 ET; July New Home Sales (consensus 620,000, prior 628,000) and August Consumer Confidence (consensus 90.6, prior 90.8) at 10:00 ET; $69 billion 2-year Treasury note auction results at 13:00 ET.
Wednesday: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index at 7:00 ET; Q2 GDP second estimate (consensus 1.5%, prior 1.5%); Q2 GDP Deflator second estimate (consensus 6.3%, prior 6.3%); July Personal Income (consensus 0.2%, prior 0.2%); July Personal Spending (consensus 0.2%, prior 0.3%); July PCE Prices (consensus 0.1%, prior -0.1%) — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. NVIDIA (NVDA) reports earnings after the close — the centerpiece event of the week, particularly given the sharp swings across semiconductor and AI-related stocks in recent sessions.
Additional retailer and high-profile software earnings are also on the calendar throughout the week, adding to a busy catalyst-driven stretch following this week’s volatility.