Market Summary
U.S. equities staged a broad rebound on Wednesday, September 2, as a pause in the recent runs higher in oil prices and Treasury yields gave stocks room to recover a portion of this week’s losses. The S&P 500 climbed 35.13 points (+0.46%) to 7666.60, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 295.07 points (+0.56%) to 53061.95, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 118.05 points (+0.45%) to 26238.88. Participation was notably broad — the Russell 2000 (+1.2%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.7%) outpaced the large-cap benchmarks, and the S&P 500 Equal-Weighted Index matched the headline gain at +0.6%, underscoring that the advance wasn’t confined to mega-caps.
Ten of eleven S&P 500 sectors finished higher, led by materials (+1.5%) on strength in steel names, communication services (+1.3%) on big gains in Charter Communications and Reddit, and financials (+0.8%). Real estate (-0.8%) was the lone laggard. Beneath a modest +0.3% gain in information technology, a sharp divergence played out: semiconductor strength (NVIDIA +3.20%) and a blowout Dell earnings report contrasted with a punishing session for software stocks, which sent the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF down 2.6% amid steep declines in Palo Alto Networks, MongoDB, Palantir, and CrowdStrike.
WTI crude settled at $90.96/bbl (+0.8%), holding below its overnight high near $92, while the 10-year Treasury yield finished unchanged at 4.80% after touching a fresh 2026 high of 4.82% overnight. That relative stability in rates and energy, alongside a supportive Fed Beige Book characterizing modest ongoing economic expansion, helped underpin the broad-based rally after two consecutive down sessions to start the week.
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 53,061.95 | +295.07 | +0.56% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,238.88 | +118.05 | +0.45% |
| S&P 500 | 7,666.60 | +35.13 | +0.46% |
Breadth:
- NYSE: Advancers 1,711 / Decliners 1,020 | Volume: 1.17 bln
- Nasdaq: Advancers 2,877 / Decliners 1,515 | Volume: 7.44 bln
WaveFinder Breadth Metrics:
- Primary Sentiment: Bullish | 4% Sentiment: Bullish | 40 SMA Sentiment: Neutral
- Primary Bulls: 1,076 | Bears: 843
- 4% Bulls: 220 | Bears: 58
- % of Stocks Above 20-day SMA: 8%
- % of Stocks Above 40-day SMA: 41.91%
- 9-Month Bulls: 21 | Bears: 6 (Follow-Through: 25%)
YTD Index Performance:
- Russell 2000: +19.0%
- S&P Mid Cap 400: +13.4%
- Nasdaq Composite: +12.8%
- S&P 500: +12.0%
- DJIA: +10.4%
Sector Performance
| Rank | Sector | Performance | Volatility (ATR) |
|—|—|—|—|
| 1 | Materials | +1.5% | 1.02% (falling, P26) |
| 2 | Communication Services | +1.3% | 2.78% (flat, P84) |
| 3 | Financials | +0.8% | 0.51% (falling, P16) |
| 4 | Health Care | Strong (Industry Watch, % not specified) | 2.40% (falling, P37) |
| 5 | Information Technology | +0.3% | -1.52% (flat, P5) |
| 6–10 | Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Industrials, Utilities | Positive — part of “10 of 11 sectors higher” (magnitude not specified) | Consumer Disc. -0.51% (falling, P5); Consumer Staples 1.24% (flat, P95); Energy 3.74% (flat, P95); Industrials -1.67% (falling, P0); Utilities -2.43% (falling, P5) |
| 11 | Real Estate | -0.8% (lone decliner) | -1.95% (falling, P0) |
Note: Briefing.com’s Industry Watch flagged Materials, Communication Services, Health Care, and Financials as the day’s strongest groups, with Real Estate the sole area of weakness.
Key Earnings & Movers
- Dell (DELL) 492.00, +67.00 (+15.76%) — Blowout Q2 (Jul) beat-and-raise; revenue jumped 57.7% yr/yr to a record $46.97 bln; raised FY27 AI-Optimized Servers revenue outlook to $74 bln from $60 bln (from $60 bln).
- Steel Dynamics (STLD) 247.64, +13.55 (+5.79%) — Led materials strength amid focus on U.S.-Canada trade negotiations.
- Reddit (RDDT) 158.11, +13.47 (+9.31%) — Among top S&P 500 performers in communication services.
- Charter Communications (CHTR) 158.97, +12.78 (+8.74%) — Strength in communication services.
- NVIDIA (NVDA) 224.40, +6.96 (+3.20%) — Lifted PHLX Semiconductor Index +0.5%.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) 51.86, +0.98 (+1.94%) — Rose ahead of its own earnings report, on positive Dell read-through; reported after the close.
- Broadcom (AVGO) 367.24, -2.44 (-0.66%) in regular trading; reported earnings after the close — After Hours headline: “Broadcom trades lower despite beat.”
- Snowflake — After Hours headline noted shares “surges” post-earnings (no further detail provided).
- Palo Alto Networks (PANW) 328.39, -33.70 (-9.31%) — Beat Q4 estimates and issued above-consensus FY27 guidance, but fell on elevated expectations.
- MongoDB (MDB) 375.40, -58.81 (-13.54%) — Declined following earnings.
- Palantir Technologies (PLTR) 169.44, -10.48 (-5.83%) — Added to software sector weakness.
- CrowdStrike (CRWD) 203.42, -11.65 (-5.42%) — Added to software sector weakness.
- Gitlab (GTLB) — Noted as a big morning gainer following its earnings report (specific price not provided).
Stock Spotlight
Dell Technologies (DELL): AI Infrastructure Engine Fires on All Cylinders
Dell surged 15.76% to close at $492.00 after delivering its largest EPS beat in any quarter over the past five years alongside record revenue of $46.97 billion, up 57.7% year-over-year. The standout was the Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG), where revenue surged 89% yr/yr to a record $31.8 billion — ahead of prior guidance for roughly 75% growth. AI server momentum accelerated sharply, with record AI server orders of $60.9 billion, record AI server revenue of $16.4 billion (versus prior guidance of $15.5 billion), and an ending backlog reaching $95 billion. Dell has now booked more than $130 billion in AI server orders over the trailing 12 months.
Looking ahead, management guided Q3 (Oct) revenue to $49 billion at the midpoint, implying roughly 80% growth and well above analyst expectations, while raising the FY27 AI-Optimized Servers revenue outlook to $74 billion from $60 billion. The AI buildout is also lifting Dell’s traditional businesses: Traditional Servers and Networking revenue surged 122% yr/yr to a record $10.5 billion, and Storage revenue rose 26% to a record $4.9 billion. Client Solutions Group revenue grew 20% to $15.0 billion, with demand exceeding available supply. The results provided a broadly positive read-through for AI infrastructure peers, notably lifting Hewlett Packard Enterprise (+1.94%) ahead of its own after-the-close earnings report.
Bond Market & Treasuries
U.S. Treasuries finished Wednesday near unchanged levels, though the flat close masked a brief morning dip that pushed 10-year and shorter-tenor yields to fresh 2026 highs intraday.
Yield Check:
- 2-year: 4.39% (unchanged)
- 3-year: 4.45% (-1 bp)
- 5-year: 4.55% (-1 bp)
- 10-year: 4.80% (unchanged; reached 4.82% overnight; last quoted 4.796% at 15:08 ET)
- 30-year: 5.27% (unchanged)
Key Drivers:
- Overnight global sovereign debt weakness sent JGB yields and 10-year yields in Germany, France, and the U.K. to fresh 2026 highs.
- Treasury Secretary Bessent said China continues to “flood the world with cheap exports” amid industrial overcapacity.
- The G20 finance ministers/central bankers meeting in North Carolina ended without a joint statement after China declined to support draft language on Strait of Hormuz shipping, non-market policies, and external surpluses.
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its official cash rate 25 bps to 2.75%, as expected.
- ECB’s Nagel acknowledged markets are “all but certain” of a rate hike later this month.
- The Fed’s Beige Book showed modest continued economic expansion; the 10-year yield showed little reaction.
- Soft ADP jobs data (38K vs. 47K consensus) was viewed as bond-market friendly.
Commodities
| Commodity | Price | Change |
|—|—|—|
| WTI Crude Oil | $90.96/bbl | +0.8% (+$0.68) |
| Gold | $4,416.60/ozt | +0.4% |
| Copper | $6.59/lb | -0.2% |
(Silver pricing was not provided in today’s data.)
Weekly crude oil inventories decreased by 4.45 million barrels, reversing a 95,000-barrel build the prior week.
Overseas Markets
Specific overseas equity index levels were not provided in today’s data; however, key overseas fixed-income and macro developments included:
- Japan/Europe: Overnight weakness in global sovereign debt pushed all JGB yields, as well as 10-year yields in Germany, France, and the U.K., to fresh 2026 highs.
- New Zealand: RBNZ raised its official cash rate 25 bps to 2.75%, as expected; July Building Consents fell 4.3% m/m (prior -3.7%).
- South Korea: August CPI rose 0.2% m/m (expected 0.3%; prior -0.2%), up 3.1% yr/yr (expected 3.2%; prior 2.8%). South Korea and Japan agreed to deepen cooperation on energy, critical minerals, and carbon rules.
- Australia: Q2 GDP rose 0.4% qtr/qtr (expected 0.3%; prior 0.3%), up 2.1% yr/yr (expected 1.8%; prior 2.5%). August AIG Construction Index improved to -6.9 from -40.8; AIG Manufacturing Index improved to -16.6 from -19.3.
- France: July budget deficit widened to EUR145.9 bln (prior deficit EUR106.8 bln).
- Italy: July PPI rose 2.4% m/m (prior 0.0%), up 7.8% yr/yr (prior 5.8%).
- Spain: August unemployment increased by 44,400 (expected 15,400; prior 19,500).
Economic Data
- Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index: +0.8% (prior -1.0%); Purchase Index +2.2%, Refinance Index -1.1%.
- August ADP Employment Change: 38,000 (Briefing.com consensus 47,000); July revised up to 46,000 from 44,000. Viewed as bond-market friendly and a soft signal on private hiring.
- July Factory Orders: +0.9% (Briefing.com consensus +0.6%); June revised to -0.2% from -0.3%. Ex-transportation, orders rose 0.6% following a 0.1% June decline. Shipments of manufactured goods rose 0.8% after being flat in June. Takeaway: factory orders ran at a good clip in July for both durable and nondurable goods; flat business spending appeared to be a normal pullback after strong May/June gains.
- Weekly Crude Oil Inventories: -4.45 million barrels (prior +95,000 barrels).
Looking Ahead
Thursday, September 3 Economic Calendar:
- 8:30 ET: July Trade Balance (Briefing.com consensus -$89.6 bln; prior -$73.3 bln)
- 8:30 ET: Revised Q2 Productivity (consensus 1.4%; prior 1.4%)
- 8:30 ET: Revised Q2 Unit Labor Costs (consensus 1.3%; prior 1.3%)
- 8:30 ET: Weekly Initial Claims (consensus 205,000; prior 203,000) and Continuing Claims (prior 1.778 mln)
- 9:45 ET: Final August S&P Global U.S. Services PMI (prior 56.8)
- 10:00 ET: August ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (consensus 54.1%; prior 54.1%)
- 10:30 ET: Weekly natural gas inventories (prior +15 bcf)
Earnings/Corporate Watch:
- Broadcom (AVGO) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported after Wednesday’s close; early after-hours commentary indicated Broadcom traded lower despite a beat, while Snowflake reportedly surged — full details to be assessed in Thursday’s pre-market session.
- Continued focus on software-sector reaction following a difficult week for the group (PANW, MDB, PLTR, CRWD).
- Markets will continue monitoring Treasury yields (10-year at 4.80%, near 2026 highs) and crude oil (near $91/bbl) as key swing factors for equity direction.