Market Summary
U.S. equities closed out a volatile week on a strong note Friday, with the DJIA surging 517.80 points (+0.98%) to 53,277.01, while the S&P 500 added 33.21 points (+0.43%) to 7,674.37 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 113.29 points (+0.43%) to 26,201.49. The rebound was broad-based, with the Russell 2000 outperforming (+0.9%) and the S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.4%) finishing in line with the large-cap benchmark, as stabilizing Treasury yields and steadying oil prices removed two of the headwinds that had driven Thursday’s selloff.
Sector leadership rotated decisively toward cyclical and defensive-growth areas. Materials (+2.2%) led all sectors on a continued surge in precious metals, with gold futures jumping $110.50 (+2.4%) to $4,680.10/oz — extending its August advance to nearly $600/oz. Health care (+1.3%), financials (+1.0%), consumer discretionary (+0.9%), and communication services (+0.9%) all posted solid gains, while utilities (-2.3%) was the lone significant decliner among S&P 500 sectors. Semiconductors remained the conspicuous laggard, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index off 0.5% and keeping the information technology sector roughly flat, capping a difficult week for chip stocks.
Despite Friday’s constructive finish, the major averages still closed the week firmly lower: the S&P 500 fell 1.4%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1%, and the DJIA lost 0.9%, driven primarily by a 5.5% weekly decline in the PHLX Semiconductor Index and a sharp rise in both oil prices and Treasury yields. Attention now turns to a pivotal week ahead featuring the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge (PCE) on Wednesday and NVIDIA’s earnings report after Wednesday’s close — widely viewed as the key catalyst for resolving this week’s semiconductor volatility.
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% |
NYSE: Advancers 1,652 | Decliners 1,068 | Volume 1.16 bln
Nasdaq: Advancers 3,147 | Decliners 1,781 | Volume 7.44 bln
WaveFinder Breadth (as of 8/21):
- Primary Sentiment: Bullish (Bulls 857 / Bears 526)
- 4% Sentiment: Bullish (Bulls 274 / Bears 77)
- 40 SMA Sentiment: Neutral
- % of Stocks Above 20-day SMA: 60%
- % of Stocks Above 40-day SMA: 54.9%
- 9-Month Bulls/Bears: 31 / 9 (Bull Follow-Through: 25%)
Year-to-Date Performance: Russell 2000 +21.6% | S&P Mid Cap 400 +15.9% | Nasdaq Composite +12.6% | S&P 500 +12.1% | DJIA +10.9%
Week-to-Date Performance: DJIA -0.9% | S&P 500 -1.4% | Russell 2000 -1.7% | Nasdaq Composite -2.1% | S&P Mid Cap 400 -2.5%
Sector Performance
Ranked by Friday’s session performance (with WaveFinder ATR volatility context):
1. Materials +2.2% — Precious metals rally (ATR 1.88%, flat, P95)
2. Health Care +1.3% — Moderna rebound (ATR 3.58%, flat, P100)
3. Financials +1.0% — Banking & crypto-linked strength (ATR 0.88%, falling, P26)
4. Consumer Discretionary +0.9% — Tesla, Target, Ross Stores (ATR 0.55%, falling, P47)
5. Communication Services +0.9% — Alphabet, Meta gains (ATR 2.41%, rising, P100)
6. Industrials — Listed as “Strong” per Industry Watch (ATR -0.48%, falling, P0)
7. Information Technology ~Flat — Semiconductor drag offset by software strength (ATR -1.05%, flat, P32)
8. Consumer Staples — Not flagged strong/weak today (ATR 0.83%, flat, P58)
9. Energy -0.2% — Crude little changed (ATR 3.39%, rising, P89)
10. Real Estate — Listed as “Weak” per Industry Watch (ATR -0.21%, flat, P32)
11. Utilities -2.3% — Worst-performing sector (ATR -2.41%, flat, P0)
Key Earnings & Movers
- Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) $76.67, +$5.45 (+7.65%) — Gold/copper rally tailwind
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD) $108.13, +$13.03 (+13.70%) — Crypto/Bitcoin surge lifting sentiment
- Moderna (MRNA) $145.13, +$11.81 (+8.86%) — Rebound after giving back cancer-vaccine rally gains
- Coinbase Global (COIN) $186.49, +$14.14 (+8.20%) — Bitcoin extending weekly surge
- Tesla (TSLA) $362.86, +$17.73 (+5.14%) — Nevada approved robotaxi services in Clark County
- Target (TGT) $165.42, +$7.17 (+4.53%) — Extending post-earnings momentum to multi-year high
- Ross Stores (ROST) $239.04, +$10.05 (+4.39%) — Strong Q2 earnings beat-and-raise
- Newmont Corp (NEM) $131.58, +$3.94 (+3.09%) — Gold rally beneficiary
- Alphabet (GOOG) $341.75, +$3.55 (+1.05%) — Broad mega-cap participation
- Meta Platforms (META) $549.90, +$4.07 (+0.75%) — Communication services support
- Marvell (MRVL) $237.04, -$13.97 (-5.57%) — Profit-taking after Wednesday’s ~10% custom-silicon surge
- NVIDIA (NVDA) $214.76, -$2.09 (-0.96%) — Ahead of Wednesday’s highly anticipated earnings
- Boston Beer (SAM) — Lower on CFO Diego Reynoso’s departure (effective Sept. 14); CAO Matt Murphy named interim CFO
Stock Spotlight
Ross Stores (ROST) delivered a standout beat-and-raise Q2 (July quarter) report, sending shares up 4.39% to $239.04. Revenue rose 13.3% yr/yr to $6.26 billion, while EPS of $2.66 included an approximately $0.60 tariff-refund benefit — though results still topped expectations even excluding that item. Comp sales increased a robust 10%, well above the company’s 6-7% plan and marking the second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, with the increase again primarily transaction-driven as new and returning customers shopped more frequently. Sales strengthened sequentially through the quarter, with July delivering the strongest performance despite tough back-to-school comparisons, and management noted encouraging trends continuing into August.
Gross margin expanded 625 bps yr/yr and operating margin expanded 610 bps (both including a 405 bp tariff-refund benefit); excluding that benefit, operating margin still expanded a healthy 205 bps on merchandise margin gains and lower distribution costs. Looking ahead, ROST raised its back-half guidance despite facing more difficult comparisons, forecasting Q3 comp growth of 6-7% and Q4 growth of 4-5% on top of +9% a year ago. The company also increased its FY27 store-opening plan to 115 units from 110, citing new stores performing ahead of plan — reinforcing confidence in its long-term unit-growth trajectory and now guiding FY27 EPS of $8.61-$8.77, above expectations even after backing out the tariff benefit.
Bond Market & Treasuries
Treasuries finished the week lower, giving back a brief midweek boost tied to the Treasury Department’s announcement of increased longer-tenor buyback capacity. Friday’s session saw a steady retreat across the curve, pushing the 10-year yield to just below its 2026 high from late July (4.747%).
Yield Levels (Friday close):
- 2-yr: 4.23% (+4 bps daily, +6 bps week)
- 3-yr: 4.31% (+4 bps daily, +6 bps week)
- 5-yr: 4.42% (+4 bps daily, +6 bps week)
- 10-yr: 4.74% (+4 bps daily, +4 bps week)
- 30-yr: 5.28% (+4 bps daily, +1 bp week)
Treasury Secretary Bessent reiterated that his department has “multiple tools” to address potential liquidity issues, though the market remained in a “show me” posture. The U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.1% to 98.81 (-0.8% for the week), holding near its lowest level since mid-May.
Commodities
- WTI Crude Oil: $87.07/bbl, -1.2% (still up nearly $5/bbl, or roughly 5.4%, for the week amid U.S.-Iran ceasefire expiration concerns)
- Gold: $4,680.10/ozt, +2.4% (+$110.50) — extending August advance to nearly $600/oz
- Silver: $69.56/oz, +2.1%
- Copper: $6.59/lb, +1.9%
Overseas Markets
Asia:
- Japan: Flash August Manufacturing PMI 55.1 (as expected; prior 54.5), marking an eighth consecutive month of expansion; Services PMI 52.3 (prior 51.2). July National CPI +0.4% m/m (prior 0.3%), +1.9% yr/yr (prior 1.6%); Core CPI +1.8% yr/yr as expected. PM Takaichi planning cabinet changes in second half of September.
- South Korea: Exports through first 20 days of August up 56% yr/yr, with chip exports nearly tripling; finance ministry monitoring rising global bond yields; July PPI -0.4% m/m but +7.7% yr/yr.
- Australia: Flash Manufacturing PMI 52.0 (unchanged); Services PMI 52.9 (prior 53.6).
- India: Flash Manufacturing PMI 52.9 (expected 54.0; prior 53.5); Services PMI 54.5 (beat expected 53.8; prior 53.3).
- New Zealand: July trade deficit widened sharply to NZD1.949 bln (vs. expected NZD175 mln deficit); Credit card spending +5.3% yr/yr (prior 3.2%).
- China: July FDI down 6.2% YTD (prior -5.0%); planning expanded joint military exercises with Indonesia and another round of economic talks with Canada.
Europe:
- Eurozone: Flash August Manufacturing PMI 52.8 (beat expected 51.8), expanding at fastest pace in over four years; Services PMI 51.7 (in line). Consumer year-ahead CPI expectations eased to 2.9% from 3.0%; 3-yr outlook to 2.7% from 2.8%. ECB’s Kazaks said September decision remains data-dependent.
- Germany: Flash Manufacturing PMI 54.1 (beat expected 52.1); Services PMI 48.5 (miss vs. expected 50.1).
- U.K.: July Retail Sales -0.5% m/m (vs. expected -0.4%), +1.6% yr/yr (missed expected 2.2%); Core Retail Sales -0.9% m/m, +2.3% yr/yr. Flash Manufacturing PMI 51.5 (in line); Services PMI 52.8 (beat expected 51.8).
- France: Flash Manufacturing PMI 51.5 (beat expected 50.1); Services PMI 48.4 (miss vs. expected 49.4). August Business Survey rose to 103 (beat expected 101). Government reportedly looking to renew a large-corporate-profits tax that generated ~EUR7.5 bln in 2025.
Economic Data
- Flash August S&P Global U.S. Services PMI: 56.8 (up from 54.6 in July) — strong beat signaling accelerating services activity
- Flash August S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI: 53.2 (down from 53.9 in July) — modest deceleration but still in expansion territory
These readings capped a light U.S. data week and provided a generally supportive backdrop for Friday’s rebound, with the services strength offsetting a slight manufacturing slowdown.
Looking Ahead
Monday (8/24): Nothing of note scheduled.
Tuesday (8/25):
- 9:00 ET: June FHFA Housing Price Index (prior 0.3%); July S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index (consensus 1.8%; prior 1.6%)
- 10:00 ET: July New Home Sales (consensus 620,000; prior 628,000); August Consumer Confidence (consensus 90.6; prior 90.8)
- 13:00 ET: $69 billion 2-year Treasury note auction results
Wednesday (8/26):
- 7:00 ET: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior -0.4%)
- 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%); Personal Spending (consensus 0.2%; prior 0.3%); PCE Prices (consensus 0.1%; prior -0.1%)
- NVIDIA (NVDA) earnings after the close — the marquee event of the week, particularly given this week’s sharp swings across semiconductor and AI-related stocks
Broader Week Ahead: The earnings calendar also includes several retailers and high-profile software companies. With the PCE Price Index (the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge) and NVIDIA’s earnings both landing Wednesday, markets should see a pivotal mid-week session that could set the tone for the semiconductor complex and broader risk sentiment into month-end.