Wall St rises on the day but falls for the week; bond yields and Iran in focus

Wall St rises on the day but falls for the week; bond yields and Iran in focus

By Sinéad Carew and Avinash P

Fri August 21, 2026  

Investors took a bit of a breather today and there was some old-fashioned bargain hunting as all the indexes went steadily straight up despite bond yields continuing to rise and the war with no end in sight. Trump has threatened severe economic sanctions against Iran and Iran has countered by vowing a “devastating” response if it happens. None of this seemed to sour investors and the light volume suggested “wait-and-see” and there’s a lot to wait-and see. 

Wall Street sinks as bond yields rise, Walmart results disappoint

Wall Street sinks as bond yields rise, Walmart results disappoint

By Sinéad Carew and Avinash P

Thu August 20, 2026  

Just as two good things happened yesterday, two bad things happened today. First and foremost, those long-awaited retail numbers to show the health of the market came in very weak, with bellwether Walmart very much disappointing which crashed its stock down 9.2%. As could be expected, other retail giants followed suit with losses between 1 and 2.6%.  

Wall St rises as yields ease, Moderna lifts healthcare stocks

Wall St rises as yields ease, Moderna lifts healthcare stocks

By Sinéad Carew and Avinash P

Wed August 19, 2026  

This morning two big things happened. First, the Treasury offered substantial buy back support on the 30-year and 10-year bonds which went through the roof yesterday sending the yields to multi-decade highs. This shot inflation prospects through the roof so the offer served to bring the yields back down, which it did. This had a healthy effect on tech, pushing companies like Marvell up 9.9% though the overall chip index fell 2%.  

Tech selloff weighs down Wall Street as bond yields climb

Tech selloff weighs down Wall Street as bond yields climb

By Sinéad Carew and Shashwat Chauhan

Tue August 18, 2026  

As markets go, bonds tend to run inversely to equities given the simple fact that equities are where you go for growth when there is good news and bonds are a place of retreat from bad news. Today the bond markets climbed suggesting that the equity markets may be in trouble and that caused a flight from all three indexes to the 30-year Treasuries. And with the war showing no progress towards peace, that shot the oil market up which further increased bond yields which further raised the cost of borrowing.  

Wall Street indexes slip as oil prices rise, retail results awaited

Wall Street indexes slip as oil prices rise, retail results awaited

By Sinéad Carew and Avinash P

Mon August 17, 2026  

Though it’s unclear exactly what happened at the noon hour, it was at that time that all three indexes dove into the red with all three closing with greater losses than Friday. The Dow took the brunt of it as the price of oil rising, with Iran still at a standstill. Some of it is just fence-sitting as investors still digest the weak retail sales and job numbers from July and anxiously awaiting new retail sales in the next few days from giants Walmart and Home Depot.  

S&P 500 ends lower as investors weigh data, Middle East tensions

S&P 500 ends lower as investors weigh data, Middle East tensions

By Noel Randewich

Fri August 14, 2026   

Weaker retail sales data combined with a drop in confidence once again in AI brought all three indexes down after yesterday’s tech rally and another S&P record. The kicker was Applied Materials which, though it turned in a glowing Q3 forecast, was not enough to satisfy the high expectations and thus the share price fell and that again impacted overall AI sentiment as being overwrought, dropping other AI chip stocks.  

S&P 500 notches record-high close as rate-hike worries ease

S&P 500 notches record-high close as rate-hike worries ease

By Noel Randewich and Avinash P

Thu August 13, 2026  

PPI was out today and like the CPI showed a flat increase in prices once again bolstering hopes that there will be no rate increase next month and subsequently sending a number of more chip companies surging, the Nasdaq once again up a respectable 3-digits and the S&P with its 50-point gain reaching another new record. After a 300-point morning surge, the Dow dropped to a minus 150 by noon, then back up and remained relatively flat the rest of the day.