Market Highlights

A rally that put stocks on the brink of all-time highs sputtered and bond yields rose as euphoria around Federal Reserve rate cuts eased just days ahead of a key inflation reading. While Jerome Powell on Friday signaled a September rate cut is likely amid downside risks to the jobs market, doubts over the pace of those reductions lingered on Wall Street. In addition to officials remaining divided, traders are bracing for a not-so-friendly price reading later this week. The dollar pared most of its losses as Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook vowed not to resign, defying President Donald Trump’s move to oust her.

Stocks surged, reversing a week of losses and sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record, while bond yields fell as surprisingly dovish comments by Jerome Powell convinced investors that rate cuts are all but guaranteed. By shifting focus toward risks in the jobs market, the Federal Reserve chief signaled it may not wait for perfect inflation before slashing rates Asian shares tracked Wall Street’s rally as traders increased bets the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next month following dovish comments by Chairman Jerome Powell.

Caution prevailed on Wall Street ahead of Jerome Powell’s speech, with stocks falling and bond yields rising as a key factory report raised concern that inflation pressures could dim the outlook for rate cuts. The fastest growth in manufacturing since 2022 drove Treasuries lower, with 10-year yields up four basis points to 4.33%. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland chief Beth Hammack said she wouldn’t support easing if officials had to decide tomorrow. The S&P 500 slipped for a fifthstraight day, its longest slide since January. Most big techs slid. Walmart Inc. sank 4.5% on a profit miss. Caution lingered across markets ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech as traders pared wagers on an imminent interest-rate cut

Stocks rebounded from session lows after a week-long tech selloff, in the latest sign of febrile Wall Street trading ahead of Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech. Following a rout that shed billions of dollars from US equity values, buyers emerged in the last stretch of Wall Street trading. A renewed slide in big tech and signs inflation remains the predominant concern of Federal Reserve officials weighed on trading Wednesday. Asian technology stocks edged higher after dip buyers steadied the Nasdaq 100 index late in US trading, while markets tread cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole meeting.

Global stocks paused after a record-breaking run, with a sharp selloff in heavyweight technology shares dragging markets lower and futures indicating further losses. Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 0.5% after the gauge slumped due to stock rotation and posted its second-worst drop since April’s tariff shock. Futures for the S&P 500 retreated 0.3% and those for European stocks fell 0.6%. Asian shares tumbled 0.8% with technology firmssuch as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and SoftBank Corp. leading. Treasuries slipped, pushing the yield on the 10-year higher by one basis point to 4.32%. Oil rose 0.6%, recouping some losses from the prior session. A gauge of the dollar extended its gains to a third day. The New Zealand dollar weakened and bonds rallied after the central bank lowered rates by 25 basis points and suggested there was scope for more cuts.

Wall Street saw a quiet start to a key Federal Reserve week, with geopolitics coming into play as President Donald Trump said he hopes to set a trilateral meeting with Russia and Ukraine as the White House welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss a potential peace deal. Following a series of all-time highs for the S&P 500, the gauge wavered. The Trump administration was said to be in discussions to take a stake of about 10% in Intel Corp. Traders will get a close look at how American consumers were faring in the early days of Trump’s tariff regime when retail giants like Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. report earnings this week. Financial markets traded in a narrow range, with global equities holding near record highs, after Donald Trump’s meeting with Ukraine’s president and European leaders ended with a call for a summit with Russia.

Pacific Investment Management Co. is warning that the Trump administration’s plan to sell shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could drive up the mortgage rates that Americans pay. “Don’t fixwhat is not broken,” Libby Cantrill, Pimco’s head of public policy, wrote in a note to clients earlier this week. She said that unless the sale can be orchestrated in a way that preserves the government’s commitment to financiallysupport the institutions, investor demand may cool for the mortgage-backed securities that they sell. And this, Cantrill said, would in turn make home loans more expensive for millions of people US and European stock futures advanced in the run up to Donald Trump’s talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after a summit with Russia concluded without escalating geopolitical tensions.

The blistering run in stocks hit a wall as a pick-up in inflation lifted bond yields alongside the dollar, with traders paring bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month. After a 30% surge from its April lows, the S&P 500 barely budged. While the move was mild amid gains in most big techs, over 350 shares fell. Intel Corp. jumped as the US was said to discuss taking a stake in the chipmaker. In late hours, Applied Materials Inc. gave a downbeat forecast. European stocks rose alongside most global equity markets, amid guarded hopes that Friday’s US-Russia summit could be an initial step toward brokering a peace deal in Ukraine and thawing relations.

Wall Street traders kept piling into bets that the Federal Reserve will soon be able to cut interest rates, with stocks hitting all-time highs and Treasury yields falling alongside the dollar. Just a day after a report showed benign inflation data, traders fully priced in a quarter-point Fed reduction in September, with some wagers pointing to a jumbo-sized move. Market expectations for policy easing also gained fuel after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s remarks that “we could go into a series of rate cuts here, starting with a 50 basis-point rate cut in September.” US stocks were set to pause their advance as investors awaited a fresh round of economic data for clues on how aggressively the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, an outlook that has fueled a dayslong risk-on rally.

Calm prevailed across Wall Street as an in-line inflation reading bolstered speculation the Federal Reserve will have room to cut rates in September, driving stocks higher and short-dated bond yields lower. All major US equity indexes climbed more than 1%, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 hitting all- time highs. The Russell 2000 of smaller firmsjumped 3%. While an initial rally in Treasuries faded, money markets priced in an about 90% chance of a Fed reduction next month. Two-year yields, more sensitive to imminent policy moves, slid four basis points to 3.73%. The dollar fell Stocks climbed to a record as an in-line US inflation reading eased price concerns and bolstered bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in September.