S&P 500 notches record close; traders turn to Nvidia results

S&P 500 notches record close; traders turn to Nvidia results

By Noel Randewich

Wed August 27, 2025 4:59 PM  

Today has been all about Nvidia. And they didn’t even report yet, that due after the bell. But yesterday’s pessimism turned into optimism today with everyone expecting a stellar Q2. In fact, today’s expert really went over the top with his enthusiasm, “Nvidia is going to produce humongous revenue gains over the next nine months, op top of an already humungous revenue base. Investors should prepare themselves for a world where Nvidia is a double-digit percentage of the S&P 500.”  So all three indexes were on an upward trajectory all day, if only modestly, except the Dow which was more than modest in the 3-digits.  

S&P 500 ends higher after Trump attacks Fed; Nvidia climbs

S&P 500 ends higher after Trump attacks Fed; Nvidia climbs

By Noel Randewich

Tue August 26, 2025 5:17 PM  

The three indexes ran more or less flat until about 2 pm, dampened by Trump’s interference in the Fed’s independence which is deeply concerning to the markets. But after 2 pm, focus was redirected to the likelihood of the September rate cut which triggered more buying and left all three closing respectably in the black. The sentiment seems to be that the moves to replace Fed governors in order to force more cuts is not only illegal but unnecessary since the trajectory of rate cuts has already been established.  

Wall Street ends down as traders focus on Nvidia, Fed after last week's rally

Wall Street ends down as traders focus on Nvidia, Fed after last week's rally

By Noel Randewich

Mon August 25, 2025 4:19 PM

 Friday’s jubilation lasted a single day as today the markets returned to their customary cautionary mode with the Dow sinking like a rock but tech doing a little better, the Nasdaq in the green for much of the day if only modestly, all on speculation of waiting for the hoped-for glowing Nvidia Q2 report due this week. Nvidia makes up a whopping 8% of the S&P as the world’s most valuable company and thus has everyone on pins and needles as the common investor who has the S&P index as a major part of a retirement portfolio will be taking a hit if Nvidia turns out to be in trouble.  

Dow notches record high as Wall Street cheers Powell's speech

Dow notches record high as Wall Street cheers Powell's speech

By Shashwat Chauhan, Sanchayaita Roy and Carolina Mandl

Fri August 22, 2025 4:34 PM

Really, Jerome Powell didn’t say anything that he hasn’t said before, namely that rate cuts were needed but that they must be data-dependent and the Fed must proceed with caution. But today, the very fact that he didn’t come right out and say no to a September rate cut but instead “hinted” that it was possible sent the markets into a state of elation with a huge rally not seen in recent months, the Dow up a whopping 846 (a new record), the Nasdaq an equally whopping 396. It was enough to boost the odds of a September cut from 75% before the speech to 90% afterwards.  

Wall Street closes down as investors brace for Powell's speech

Wall Street closes down as investors brace for Powell's speech

By Johann M Cherian, Sanchayaita Roy and Carolina Mandl

Thu August 21, 2025 6:11 PM  

The entire day was one big spiral down on all three indexes, mainly because investors are bracing for hawkish comments from Powell tomorrow. So pessimistic are they of a dovish stance that the odds of a September rate cut are now actually in doubt after being considered a sure thing for such a long time now, and the odds on this single day have been suddenly slashed a whopping 21 points from 99.9% last week to 79% today.  

Nasdaq, S&P 500 end lower as investors sell tech, buy less pricey sectors

Nasdaq, S&P 500 end lower as investors sell tech, buy less pricey sectors

By Johann M Cherian, Sanchayaita Roy and Carolina Mandl

Wed August 20, 2025 5:07 PM

The rotation away from highly overvalued tech stocks to quality undervalued stocks in other sectors continued today but not without its bumps as choppy trading dominated, the Dow down 150 at one point, the Nasdaq down 400. Everybody’s looking to Powell’s remarks at Jackson Hole on Friday and to more of the major retailers reporting in the next two days to gauge the health of consumer spending and by extension the health of the economy.  

Nasdaq tumbles as Jackson Hole jitters hit tech stocks

Nasdaq tumbles as Jackson Hole jitters hit tech stocks

By Johann M Cherian, Sanchayaita Roy and Carolina Mandl

Tue August 19, 2025 4:44 PM

There appears to be a fair amount of skepticism about a positive result coming from Jackson Hole later this week so today saw a big sell off in tech as a cautionary move. Meanwhile the Dow hit a new record early in the morning before beginning a decline and losing all but 10 points of its gains by close. There may have been a rationale behind the tech sell-off though as mentioned by today’s expert being that some stocks have become overweighted so there is now rotation back into others.  

Wall Street ends on muted note ahead of Jackson Hole summit, retailers' earnings

Wall Street ends on muted note ahead of Jackson Hole summit, retailers' earnings

By Johann M Cherian, Sanchayaita Roy and Carolina Mandl

Mon August 18, 2025 4:57 PM

Just like last Monday, there’s a whole lot coming down the pike this week. Some real heavy hitters like Walmart and Target are reporting Q2 and the Fed’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole has everyone in wait-and-see mode. There’s also today’s bad news of no concrete outcome in the Ukraine peace talks, the housing market index falling to its lowest since December 2022, and though there is still a virtual 100% expectation of a ¼ point rate cut next month, the odds of more cuts later this year have today been lowered.  

Dow ends higher after UnitedHealth gains, other indexes slip on rate cut

Dow ends higher after UnitedHealth gains, other indexes slip on rate cut uncertainty

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Fri August 15, 2025 4:20 PM  

Both the Nasdaq and S&P spent the whole day in the red, the Dow spent the whole day in the green. The push down on tech was the continuing uncertainty over tariffs, inflation, and rate cuts. The push up on the Dow was Warren Buffett dramatically upping his stake in United Health, which made that stock soar and the rest of industrials followed suit. Besides United Health, the day’s dynamics included July retail sales rising but counterbalanced by falling consumer confidence and factory production, both again attributed to tariffs.  

Wall Street ends flat, but S&P hits another closing high as rate-cut bets waver

Wall Street ends flat, but S&P hits another closing high as rate-cut bets waver

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Thu August 14, 2025 4:27 PM  

Yesterday’s ebullience was squashed today by a hot PPI report showing producer prices have surged to a 3 year high. This squelched the optimism about rate cuts for the rest of the year, though a ¼ point September rate cut is still very much on the books. However, the steeper rate cuts for the final three months of the year are now in considerable doubt. All three indexes all went well into the red, the Dow down some 230 by 1 pm, tech having similar difficulties. The lesson coming from today’s PPI is that prices have not only risen because of the tariffs but are now expected to keep rising as the duty impact proceeds to reveal itself.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit new closing highs on rate cut hopes

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit new closing highs on rate cut hopes

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Wed August 13, 2025 4:24 PM  

All three indexes started the day way up and though the Dow stayed that way, almost immediately the tech indexes started falling, losing everything around 1 pm but starting a gradual recovery to have modest gains at close. But even the modest gains gave them a second straight day of record highs as the market remains ebullient over the weak economic data, especially inflation staying steady, now virtually guaranteeing a rate cut next month. There’s a case to be made that valuations are very high so everyone was just taking their profits out of tech after yesterday’s big rally.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq end at record closing highs as moderate inflation lifts rate hopes

S&P 500, Nasdaq end at record closing highs as moderate inflation lifts rate hopes

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Tue August 12, 2025 4:29 PM

CPI came in barely changed monthly while annual inflation data even came in a bit lower than estimates. This greatly bolstered confidence that there will be a September rate cut and sent all the indexes straight up. September cut odds now up to a whopping 88.8%. But there are possible consequences of a rate cut at this time. “This is still early innings of this process and just as the Fed will be beginning to cut rates in the autumn, that’s when the inflation data will probably start to be registering some of these more direct tariff price increases and it’s going to complicate the rate-cutting decision.” 

Wall Street stocks end down, inflation data, China trade in focus

Wall Street stocks end down, inflation data, China trade in focus

By Saeed Azhar, Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Mon August 11, 2025 4:27 PM

All three indexes took a dip ahead of inflation reports coming Tuesday to once again gauge rate cut expectations but still optimistic that recent weak labor data will prompt the Fed to cut. However, inflation is expected to remain sticky since tariff impacts are just beginning to show and will only continue to increase. It’s a two-edged sword as commented by today’s expert that the tariffs are only going to increase inflation but “lower inflationary readings and slower growth numbers are needed to support the case for lower rates."  

Nasdaq posts record closing high with tech gains, rate cut optimism

Nasdaq posts record closing high with tech gains, rate cut optimism

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Fri August 8, 2025 5:12 PM  

Just as yesterday was a path straight down, today was a path straight up with the Dow and Nasdaq climbing to 3-digit gains, the Nasdaq at another new record close for the second day and the S&P just shy of another. It could be just another day of bargain hunting or it could be investors still reacting to yesterday’s good news from Apple. Add to that the spate of weak economic data which now has the market giddy over a virtual certainty of a September rate cut.  

S&P 500 eases with Eli Lilly; Nasdaq manages record closing high

S&P 500 eases with Eli Lilly; Nasdaq manages record closing high

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Thu August 7, 2025 5:00 PM

All three indexes started the day well into the black, especially tech where the Nasdaq reached another record high, but then all quickly began a decline, the S&P and Dow almost immediately in the red, the Dow heading to a 3-digit loss, and the Nasdaq bouncing back into the black at the 11^th hour for a modest gain. There are several things that could trigger today’s sell off, not the least of which were dozens of new tariffs that took effect today, plus Trump’s choices for replacing the departing Fed Gov.

Nasdaq leads gains on Wall Street, helped by Apple

Nasdaq leads gains on Wall Street, helped by Apple

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Wed August 6, 2025 4:00 PM

Contrary to Friday, there was nothing but good news today, starting with Apple committing to $100B of domestic manufacturing along with a slew of positive Q2 reports. With 4/5 of the S&P having now reported, earnings continue to exceed forecasts with 80% beating estimates vs a 76% average. One Fed prez has said that rate cuts need to come soon which has now skyrocketed the odds for a September cut to 95.2% vs 46.7% just a week ago.  

Wall Street ends lower as investors consider tariff impact on results, economy

Wall Street ends lower as investors consider tariff impact on results, economy

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Tue August 5, 2025 4:57 PM

After yesterday’s huge rally, investors took a pause today with all indexes closing modestly in the red. With today’s Q2, tariffs are very much back on the front-burner due to the fact that company after company, though turning in good reports, are also issuing warnings that duties are already increasing costs and are trimming their forecasts for Q3 and Q4. Company after company is warning that higher costs are just going to keep going higher resulting in higher prices and fewer sales, thus lower revenues and profits. More Q2 from major companies like Disney and McDonalds coming Wednesday. Q2 is winding down and though it’s been largely positive with 80% of companies beating estimates, the overall message is that it’s not going to last. We’re heading for a poor second-half.  

Indexes end up 1%; investors ramp up rate-cut views after weaker payrolls

Indexes end up 1%; investors ramp up rate-cut views after weaker payrolls

By Caroline Valetkevitch

Mon August 4, 2025 4:00 PM

This is what makes Wall Street so much fun. The consensus this weekend was that the very poor Friday performance would be extended into today. Instead the opposite happened with the exact same pattern as Friday only in the black instead of the red and with all three indexes recovering almost all of Friday’s losses. Ironically, all that really changed today was attitude. Friday there was a panic over data showing the labor market was weaker than previously believed. The glass was half empty.  

Stocks slump on latest tariffs, soft jobs data

Stocks slump on latest tariffs, soft jobs data

By Chuck Mikolajczak

Fri August 1, 2025 4:37 PM

There wasn’t anything much to like today which sent the market straight down out the gate into very weighty 3-digit losses all around where all three indexes remained all day. There was the disappointing Amazon report, Apple despite a good Q2 nevertheless forecasting $1 billion in additional costs coming due to tariffs, a very bad jobs report as well as sharply reduced jobs data from last time showing the job market suffering and apparently no longer as resilient as thought. Add on to that dozens of new tariffs announced, Trump firing the head of Labor Statistics since the data does not support his positions, and a Fed governor announcing an early exit leaving Trump more maneuvering room to dump Powell.