Wall Street closes lower as oil prices jump, indexes notch monthly gains

Wall Street closes lower as oil prices jump, indexes notch monthly gains

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Mon August 31, 2026  

Last week, investors took some comfort in Warsh’s comments since, even though hawkish, at least provided more clarity. But over the weekend, the markets reassessed the whole inflation outlook getting worse and worse and with today’s spiking oil prices, attributed entirely to the war and reinforcing the bleak inflation outlook, all three indexes dropped like rocks. And dropped right out the gate and stayed there all day. The Nasdaq, down over 250 as late as 3 pm, made an 11^th hour comeback mainly due to evidence that AI was still alive and well despite recent weakness.  

Investors heartened by Warsh inflation talk, still uncertain about Fed action

Investors heartened by Warsh inflation talk, still uncertain about Fed action

By Lewis Krauskopf, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Laura Matthews

Fri August 28, 2026

The charts show a big bump on the Dow up some 260 until 11:30, then crashing down to zero for the rest of the day with a similar pattern on the S&P but the Nasdaq sliding more deeply into the red with a 3-digit loss by close. But all reports today focused on Warsh’s speech at Jackson Hole in which he spelled out that inflation was still not being curbed and that rate hikes may well be in the Fed’s future.

Nasdaq, S&P 500 lifted by Nvidia's forecast; investors eye speech by Fed's Warsh

Nasdaq, S&P 500 lifted by Nvidia's forecast; investors eye speech by Fed's Warsh

By Saeed Azhar, Purvi Agarwal and Niket Nishant

Thu August 27, 2026  

It could easily have been a self-fulfilling prophecy for disaster with markets expecting such lofty results from Nvidia that, had they been less than stellar, the AI boom might have been dampened. But lucky for the markets, Nvidia came through with a glowing report that has once again firmly put AI on a vigorously forward path. The company’s forecast for a whopping 70% revenue growth next year is almost double the market’s lofty estimate of 40% and even topping Morgan Stanley’s impossibly optimistic 52% forecast.  

Wall Street stocks end tad lower after hot inflation data ahead of Nvidia earnings

Wall Street stocks end tad lower after hot inflation data ahead of Nvidia earnings

By Saeed Azhar, Purvi Agarwal and Niket Nishant

Wed August 26, 2026  

The headlines say “Hot Inflation Reading” coming in at 3.7%, more than twice the Fed’s target, but that’s not exactly accurate. What really happened is the PCE reading came in completely unchanged from last month which was also 3.7%, meaning inflation didn’t cool at all contrary to hopes. The estimate was for 3.6%. It remains a sticky wicket putting a September rate hike back on the table but with the relatively low odds of 38%.  Though it is doubtful that any such announcement is forthcoming in September, if the picture doesn’t improve the Fed may have no choice but to move off the sidelines.  

Wall Street ends higher as tech rebounds before Nvidia results

Wall Street ends higher as tech rebounds before Nvidia results

By Saeed Azhar, Purvi Agarwal and Niket Nishant

Tue August 25, 2026  

It was a choppy yet fruitful day with all three indexes recovering from recent pullbacks. The recovery, especially in tech, was a good harbinger of expectations of positive results from Nvidia on Wednesday. PCE will also be out on Wednesday which will also give a boost if it shows inflation in the right direction. Today’s rally was partly motivated by the 30-year yield falling along with oil, oil down to a one-week low.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq end down on tech stocks, investors weigh Iran moves

S&P 500, Nasdaq end down on tech stocks, investors weigh Iran moves

By Saeed Azhar, Purvi Agarwal and Niket Nishant

Mon August 24, 2026  

More threats against Iran plus now additional threats against allies trading with Iran continued to aggravate war worries and send tech down, the chips hit particularly hard. All of this was further exacerbated by the continuing and very omnipresent opposition to the building of AI centers with even Texas governor Abbott now joining the protests. All the turbulence has continued to push the 30-year bond higher with Bessent considering tapping into the $1T General Account to continue bond buybacks.  

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. 

S&P 500 ends higher as CoreWeave results fuel AI optimism

S&P 500 ends higher as CoreWeave results fuel AI optimism

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

Wed August 12, 2026  

Several AI companies turning in good reports shot the tech indexes straight up to decent gains with both the Nasdaq and S&P regaining almost all of yesterday’s losses. The enthusiasm also spilled over to the companies building data centers with stocks like Nebus boosting an amazing 34%. Combine that with the good news that CPI came in basically flat.  

Wall Street ends down as US-Iran peace optimism fades

Wall Street ends down as US-Iran peace optimism fades

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

Tue August 11, 2026  

For the second day after new proposals to end the war have utterly failed, the market took a dive straight down, this time much more seriously than yesterday. As Iran said, “The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. accepts Iran’s conditions to end the war.” As of this past weekend, those conditions now include the U.S. paying restitution for all the damage done to Iran. As reported yesterday, Trump has countered that by demanding Iran pay restitution for every American lost in the attacks by Iran.  

Wall Street ends down as expectations of Hormuz deal fade

Wall Street ends down as expectations of Hormuz deal fade

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Noel Randewich

Mon August 10, 2026  

The peace negotiations have become a sticky wicket with Tehran now demanding compensation for all the damage done by U.S. strikes during this war and Trump countering by demanding compensation for all lives lost in the war. Suddenly a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz appears at a standstill and with hopes fading for this critical aspect of the negotiations which could bring down the price of oil and help stabilize inflation, the markets turned downward. The Nasdaq closed down the hardest, the S&P stayed pretty close to flat after Friday’s record.  

S&P closes at record high as soft jobs report eases rate-hike concerns

S&P closes at record high as soft jobs report eases rate-hike concerns

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Shashwat Chauhan

Fri August 7, 2026  

Per today’s jobs report, the economy lost over 100,000 jobs, that is if you’re counting the 80,000 forecasted increase that didn’t happen and the 23,000 unexpected decrease that did. It was good news on the inflation front as providing more fodder to stall off a rate increase. The odds today of a September increase has fallen to 44% vs yesterday’s 55 vs last week’s 67. That’s a 35% decrease in a week.  

Stocks close lower as investors eye Mideast talks, earnings

Stocks close lower as investors eye Mideast talks, earnings

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Shashwat Chauhan

Thu August 6, 2026  

Peace hopes got muted today over the impending opening of the Strait of Hormuz but with the Iranian parliament considering banning the U.S. and its allies from using it. This combined with more AI jitters brought all three indexes down for a second day after a very vigorous 3-day rally. Oddly, two of the tech companies that fell today, Western Digital and Sandisk, actually turned in glowing Q2 and have been booming this year, Western up 400%, Sandisk 160%. 

Dow closes at record on Mideast optimism; SpaceX, AMD drag Nasdaq

Dow closes at record on Mideast optimism; SpaceX, AMD drag Nasdaq

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Johann M Cherian

Wed August 5, 2026  

After four straight days of big gains, a couple of disappointing Q2 AI reports, namely from SpaceX and AMD, brought both tech indexes down but progress in the peace talks concerning a deal between Oman and Iran brought oil down and shot the Dow up to yet another record. SpaceX and AMD actually had reasonably good reports with SpaceX actually doubling revenues. But their expenses were still more than their revenues raising the old doubts that these massive AI investments will pay off. 

Dow, S&P 500 close at record on AI-linked earnings, Mideast deal hopes

Dow, S&P 500 close at record on AI-linked earnings, Mideast deal hopes

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Johann M Cherian

Tue August 4, 2026  

Optimism over earnings and an end to the war shot all the indexes straight up again for the fourth straight day, today even more impressively than before with high 3-digit gains all around. The Dow reached a new record for the second straight day, the S&P its first new record since July 2^nd. Caterpillar provided the biggest boost to the Dow with increasing demand for its equipment in building AI centers. Palantir got an astonishing 29.5% boost and the chip index rose 6.6%. Crude dropped 5% on Qatari confirmations that peace talks were continuing.  

Wall Street rallies, Dow closes at record on Iran talks optimism

Wall Street rallies, Dow closes at record on Iran talks optimism

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Johann M Cherian

Mon August 3, 2026  

Optimism is back up front with all three indexes jumping straight up out the gate and staying up all day, all achieving very substantial 3-digit gains again, the Dow not only now handsomely recouping all its losses but reaching another record high. The good news is new hopes over Iran as fighting de-escalates and bringing crude prices down 5%.  With 304 of 500 S&P companies now reporting and 85.2% beating estimates, Q2 earnings growth now stands at 29.3%, but oddly down from Friday’s 48%.