FactSet Evening Market Recap

Major US equity indices were mostly lower this week, though the Nasdaq Composite logged a weekly gain. AI had an up-and-down week with some notable Monday and Tuesday softness coming after Anthropic's Dario Amodei last weekend released a call for a slower pace of frontier evolution, citing cybersecurity concerns and worries about unchecked recursive self-improvement. The FOMC this week hiked rates by 25 bps, as had been widely expected, though the tone was more hawkish than anticipated.

US equities were higher in Thursday trading. Oil was a tailwind (though ended the day off its lows) despite mixed takeaways from the latest Middle East updates. Other areas of focus included positive AI updates, largely upbeat sell-side conference takeaways, and next week's Trump-Xi summit.

US equities were down in Wednesday trading, rebounding a bit from their worst levels after somewhat hawkish remarks from Warsh post-FOMC. The Fed raised rates by 25 bp as widely expected, while dot plot showed one additional rate hike for 2026 and nothing more in 2027. Market still pricing in 25 bp of hikes through year-end.

US equities finished lower in Tuesday trading, ending not far from worst levels. Stocks extended Monday's selloff with biggest focus on another oil rally amid latest cautious Middle East and global supply updates.

US equities finished lower in Monday trading, though ended well off the morning's weakness. A rotation out of the AI infrastructure space was today's big story. There’s also a lot of anticipation ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting.

US equities were lower this week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapping two-week winning streaks. Iran conflict and energy-market spillovers remained a major market headwind, with increased kinetic activity and dwindling diplomatic off-ramps pushing WTI and Brent above $100 and US diesel above $6/gallon. August CPI came in slightly hotter than expected and strengthened the case for a September Fed hike.

US equities were lower in Thursday trading, ending a bit off worst levels. The market was on the defensive against continued strength in crude and a notable jump in Treasury yields. WTI is crude now up for the eighth consecutive session (and up ~20% over that stretch) with a focus on Mideast headlines, particularly regarding Houthi influence over Bab el-Mandeb strait.

US equities were lower in Wednesday trading, extending Tuesday's declines. The defensive tone once again chalked up to continued escalation in kinetic activity in the Middle East (and no diplomatic off-ramps in sight) that pushed oil back to four-month highs. Rates were also a headwind, tabbed in part to oil as well as underwhelming Treasury buyback announcement.

US equities were lower in Tuesday trading as major averages ended near session lows. Defensive tilt chalked up to latest hawkish US/Iran updates following weekend ramp in kinetic activity.

US equities were modestly higher this week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both up less than 1% but higher for a second straight week (and fifth week in the past six). The Iran war narrative was fairly choppy, as kinetic activity resumed over the weekend, though was fairly limited in scope. August headline payrolls were up +162K m/m, well ahead of +55K consensus.

US equities were higher in Thursday trading, ending near best levels. The move to the upside was tabbed in large part to rate stabilization following Fed Governor Waller's remarks offering support for a September rate hold if data showed continued disinflation progress. September hike probabilities now seen as just above 50% vs odds near 68% on Tuesday.

US equities were higher in Wednesday trading, a bit off best levels. It was a very quiet, low volume session as the market bounced following a three-day losing streak that was largely chalked up to higher rates, higher energy prices, hawkish central bank reaction function concerns, elevated geopolitical tensions, dampened positive macro surprise momentum and seasonal headwinds.

US equities finished lower in Tuesday trading, with stocks ending not far off worst levels amid upward pressure on rates/oil and AI trade weakness. July JOLTS job openings missed at 7.27M, while June revised down to lowest since February.

US equities were lower in Monday trading, though ended the day off worst levels. The latest Middle East escalation/higher oil prices were seemingly the excuse for the decline. Rates remain in focus with a lot of moving pieces in the takeaways surrounding Warsh's Jackson Hole speech last Friday.

Major US equity indices were mostly higher for the week. Software was a big outperformer after several well-received reports seemed to ease some SaaS anxieties. There was a lot of anticipation for Nvidia's earnings report, which ultimately offered blowout Q3 results and Q3 guidance.

US equity indices finished higher in Thursday trading, though breadth was negative, all sectors outside tech were lower, and the equal-weight S&P lagged by more than 100 bp. It was a very quiet session with the tech rally (and AI and software upside specifically) the only real market narrative. The move was driven by Nvidia's well-received report and guidance, while software also rallied following multiple solid earnings reports that also helped push back against the AI disruption narrative.

US equities ended slightly lower in Wednesday trading, though S&P 500 breadth was positive, and the equal-weight a bit higher amid a bit of a rotation toward select cyclical pockets. It was a fairly quiet session as stocks did not do much overall amid a higher yield and oil backdrop. Today's economic data was mixed.

US equities were higher in Tuesday trading. Several dynamics were in focus today. In macro news, August consumer confidence slipped to 89.4 against July's downwardly revised 90.2.

US equities were mostly lower in Monday afternoon trading, though somewhat in waiting mode for key catalysts ahead (including Nvidia earnings and Warsh's Jackson Hole speech). Momentum was the notable drag with memory and semis both down. The AI narrative was busy with a number of recent headlines, including Nvidia price hikes driven by memory surge, Deepseek and OpenAI price cuts, and rising AI-linked CDS.

US equities declined this week, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 ending three straight weeks of gains. Major US equity indexes were modestly lower on the week, pressured by elevated long-end yields, higher oil, and some sporadic weakness in crowded AI and momentum trades. The Fed and macro calendar was relatively quiet this week