Market Summary
U.S. equities extended their skid to a third consecutive session on Thursday as surging crude oil, spiking Treasury yields, and mounting rate-hike expectations continued to overwhelm buyers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 316.56 points (-0.60%) to 52064.10, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 171.62 points (-0.65%) to 26102.77, and the S&P 500 shed 44.66 points (-0.58%) to close at 7591.70. Small- and mid-cap names underperformed once again, with the Russell 2000 off 1.0% and the S&P Mid Cap 400 down 0.9%, underscoring the broad-based, risk-off tone of the session.
WTI crude was the dominant story of the day, settling $6.32 higher (+6.6%) at $102.30/bbl — a roughly 11.5% gain for the holiday-shortened week and the highest level in nearly four months — as an off-ramp to the U.S.-Iran conflict remained elusive. That advance, combined with a fresh round of 2026-high Treasury yields, pressured nine of eleven S&P 500 sectors. Semiconductor stocks, which had shown relative resilience earlier in the week, buckled under the selling pressure, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index sliding 2.7% and dragging the broader technology sector 0.9% lower.
Adding fuel to the hawkish narrative, this morning’s August PPI report showed headline producer prices up 0.4% m/m (in line with consensus) while core PPI rose a slightly cooler-than-expected 0.2% — but upward revisions to July’s readings and an acceleration in year-over-year producer inflation overshadowed the softer core print. The CME FedWatch Tool now assigns a 73.1% probability to a rate hike at next week’s FOMC meeting, up sharply from 61.2% a day earlier. Markets now turn to Oracle’s after-hours earnings and tomorrow’s critical August CPI report, which is expected to be the decisive input for the Fed’s September 15-16 policy decision.
Market Snapshot
| Index | Level | Change | % Change |
|—|—|—|—|
| Dow Jones | 52064.10 | -316.56 | -0.60% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26102.77 | -171.62 | -0.65% |
| S&P 500 | 7591.70 | -44.66 | -0.58% |
| Russell 2000 | — | — | -1.0% |
| S&P Mid Cap 400 | — | — | -0.9% |
Breadth:
- NYSE: Advancers 741, Decliners 2009, Volume 1.16 bln
- Nasdaq: Advancers 1426, Decliners 3510, Volume 7.22 bln
WaveFinder Breadth Metrics:
- Primary Sentiment: Very Bearish (Bulls 865 / Bears 916)
- 4% Sentiment: Bearish (Bulls 68 / Bears 247)
- 40 SMA Sentiment: Bearish
- Stocks above 20-day SMA: 21%
- Stocks above 40-day SMA: 29.97%
- 9-Month Bulls: 6 / Bears: 29 (Bull Follow-Through: 14.29%)
Breadth metrics confirm the deeply negative internals accompanying today’s headline index declines, with decliners outpacing advancers by nearly 3-to-1 on the NYSE and better than 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
Sector Performance
Ranked from strongest to weakest based on today’s Briefing.com Industry Watch data:
1. Communication Services +0.3% — Reddit (+6.09%) and Comcast (+2.36%) rebound offset weakness elsewhere
2. Consumer Staples +0.2% — one of only two sectors in positive territory
3. Health Care — not specifically detailed in today’s sector commentary
4. Real Estate — not specifically detailed in today’s sector commentary
5. Consumer Discretionary — Weak (no specific % cited); apparel names pressured in sympathy with American Eagle
6. Financials — Weak (no specific % cited), pressured by rising yields
7. Industrials — Weak (no specific % cited)
8. Energy — Weak (no specific % cited) despite the surge in crude oil
9. Utilities — Weak (no specific % cited), rate-sensitive selling
10. Information Technology -0.9% — Semiconductor weakness (PHLX Semi Index -2.7%) was an outsized drag
11. Materials -1.5% — Worst-performing sector amid falling precious metals and sharp copper weakness
Volatility note (WaveFinder ATR): Energy showed the highest ATR reading (1.76%, falling, P5) reflecting oil-driven volatility; Real Estate (-2.79%) and Utilities (-2.56%) showed the most compressed/falling ATR readings.
Key Earnings & Movers
- Cooper Companies (COO) 54.17, -9.31 (-14.67%) — Q3 revenue miss and steep downside Q4 guidance tied to CooperVision destocking
- American Eagle (AEO) 14.54, -2.35 (-13.91%) — soft AE brand performance and reduced back-half operating income outlook overshadowed Aerie strength
- Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) 84.03, +7.49 (+9.79%) — rallied on rising optimism the proposed Qorvo merger will close
- Qorvo (QRVO) 112.36, +7.12 (+6.77%) — merger-related optimism
- NVIDIA (NVDA) 218.40, -5.27 (-2.36%) — led mega-cap semiconductor weakness
- Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) 428.31, -7.05 (-1.62%) — declined despite reporting August revenue up 53.3% y/y to NT$514.81 billion, as shares gave back ground after a strong recent run
- Reddit (RDDT) 155.36, +8.92 (+6.09%) — among the better-performing S&P 500 components
- Comcast (CMCSA) 25.17, +0.58 (+2.36%) — rebounded from Wednesday’s sharp decline
- Oracle (ORCL) 153.17, -8.46 (-5.23%) — reported earnings after today’s close; faces elevated expectations around AI infrastructure and data center buildout
- Navan (NAVN) -19% — pressured despite a Q2 beat-and-raise; Q3 revenue guidance implied deceleration to ~30% y/y growth versus mid-to-high-30% growth in prior quarters
Stock Spotlight
Cooper Companies (COO) was the session’s most significant decliner, plunging 14.67% to $54.17 after a Q3 revenue miss and sharply downside Q4 guidance exposed a steeper-than-expected slowdown at CooperVision. Q4 guidance calls for adjusted EPS of $1.05-$1.09, well below the $1.19 FactSet consensus, and revenue of $1.057-$1.080 billion versus the $1.11 billion consensus. Management attributed the reduction entirely to accelerated U.S. destocking, noting that Americas growth would have been roughly 5% absent the inventory correction; the company believes it is only halfway through this process and expects a similar drag in Q4.
Beyond the destocking issue, Cooper’s completed strategic review ended without a sale of CooperSurgical after bids failed to reflect the board’s perceived value — removing a near-term transaction catalyst that some investors had been anticipating. On a more constructive note, gross margin dipped only 60 bps to 66.7% while operating margin actually improved 30 bps to 26.3% on productivity gains, and free cash flow hit a quarterly record of $273 million ($528 million year-to-date, up 86%), funding $339 million of Q3 buybacks. Still, with new CooperVision sales representatives unlikely to contribute meaningfully until 2H27 and FY27 tax rates set to rise from ~15.5% to ~17.5% due to GILTI changes, the market chose to focus on the deteriorating near-term revenue trajectory rather than the underlying cash-flow strength.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries sold off across the curve for the second straight session, driving yields on all tenors to fresh 2026 highs:
- 2-year: +12 bps to 4.55%
- 3-year: +13 bps to 4.65%
- 5-year: +12 bps to 4.73%
- 10-year: +11 bps to 4.94% (approaching its 2023 peak of 4.997%)
- 30-year: +8 bps to 5.36% (within 5 bps of its 2007 high of 5.408%)
The selloff was driven by a confluence of global inflation signals: overnight comments from Bank of Japan policymaker Masu suggesting the BoJ needs to pull real rates out of negative territory, a widely-expected 25-bp rate hike from the European Central Bank (pushing its deposit rate to 2.50%), and the domestic August PPI report showing upward revisions to July data. A strong $22 billion 30-year bond reopening offered brief relief before late-session pressure pushed yields back toward their highs. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast for Q3 GDP was lowered to 4.4% from 4.7%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.2% to 99.03, with USD/JPY at 154.34 and EUR/USD at 1.1611.
Commodities
- WTI Crude Oil: $102.30/bbl, +$6.32 (+6.6%) — highest close in nearly four months; up ~11.5% for the week amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict; Brent crude topped $105/bbl in premarket trade
- Gold: Declined sharply in today’s session (specific closing level not disclosed in available data), as rising energy costs raised concerns about industrial demand pressure
- Silver: Also fell sharply alongside gold on the same demand concerns
- Copper: Reversed sharply from a record high near $7/lb, returning to its 50-day moving average of $6.488/lb, after the Trump administration delayed a decision on potentially extending duties on refined copper amid affordability concerns
Overseas Markets
Today’s session was shaped by overnight policy developments rather than fresh index-level moves: Bank of Japan policymaker Masu delivered hawkish commentary on pulling real rates out of negative territory, while the European Central Bank raised its rate corridor by 25 bps (deposit rate to 2.50%, main refinancing rate to 2.65%, marginal lending rate to 2.90%) in a widely anticipated move. Separately, Germany’s final August CPI matched expectations at +0.2% m/m and +2.9% y/y; Italy’s July Industrial Production beat at +0.7% m/m; and Spain’s July Industrial Production rose 2.3% y/y.
(For reference, in the prior session — Wednesday, Sep 9 — Europe closed broadly lower: DAX -1.7%, FTSE -1.3%, CAC -1.9%; Asia was mixed: Nikkei -0.2%, Hang Seng -0.2%, Shanghai +0.3%.)
Economic Data
- August PPI: +0.4% m/m (consensus +0.4%); July revised up to +0.1% from 0.0%. PPI +5.4% y/y (up from 4.8% in July)
- August Core PPI: +0.2% m/m (consensus +0.3%); July revised up to +0.3% from +0.2%. Core PPI +4.6% y/y (up from 4.3% in July) — cooler-than-expected core reading was overshadowed by upward July revisions, reinforcing rate-hike expectations
- Initial Jobless Claims (week ended Sep 5): 206,000, down 1,000 from revised 207,000 (consensus 208,000) — claims remain range-bound near their four-week moving average
- Continuing Claims (week ended Aug 29): 1.774 million, down 1,000 from revised 1.775 million
- Existing Home Sales (August): -2.0% m/m to a 3.98 million SAAR (consensus 4.03 million), down 1.2% y/y — sales remain pressured by high mortgage rates and limited inventory
- Atlanta Fed GDPNow (Q3): Lowered to 4.4% from 4.7%
Looking Ahead
- August CPI report (tomorrow morning, Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) — widely viewed as the deciding factor for whether the Fed hikes rates or holds at next week’s FOMC meeting
- Oracle (ORCL) earnings — reported after today’s close; investors will focus on cloud acceleration and progress on its AI infrastructure/data center buildout
- FOMC Meeting: September 15-16 — CME FedWatch currently assigns a 73.1% probability of a rate hike, up from 61.2% prior to today’s PPI release
- Continued focus on crude oil trajectory and the U.S.-Iran conflict, which remains a key swing factor for both equities and Treasury yields