S&P 500 Edges Lower After $3.7 Trillion Advance: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street’s blistering run took a breather, with traders digesting the recent stock gains and monitoring any hints of progress toward a deal to revive the Strait of Hormuz.
Signs of exhaustion emerged after a $3.7 trillion S&P 500 rally in just four days. A key gauge of chipmakers fell 1.4%, though Nvidia Corp. climbed. Despite strong results, SpaceX sank 14% as $101 billion worth of stock becomes available for trading Thursday.
The morning exuberance in equities was followed by a pullback, with investors waiting for a follow-through on the Middle East situation, according to Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers.
“It makes sense for Wall Street to pause,” he said.
Iran said it reached an agreement with Oman on a proposed route for shipping through Hormuz, a potential step toward a reopening of the critical waterway for energy supplies. US oil settled around $75.
The weight of the evidence continues to support giving the bull market in stocks the benefit of the doubt, even as we experience more bumps along the way, according to Keith Lerner at Truist Advisory Services Inc.
“Earnings remain our north star, the economy continues to show resilience, market participation has broadened, and valuation excesses have largely been worked off,” he said.
On the economic front, the US service sector expanded at a steady pace in July, but rising costs for services and materials continued to weigh on firms. Companies added fewer jobs than expected.
If confirmed in the government’s monthly jobs report on Friday, the recent employment trend suggests Federal Reserve officials can keep their focus on still-elevated prices.
Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari told CNBC the central bank should start raising rates incrementally right now to curb inflation that remains too high.
Corporate Highlights:
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is losing some of its most prominent artificial-intelligence veterans in a seismic overhaul that is casting doubt over leadership of a critical area of growth right as competition intensifies. Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced the release of the company’s first AI coding agent, known as Muse Code, stepping up competition with OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. Microsoft Corp. generates most of its artificial intelligence revenue from OpenAI, according to new disclosures from the company. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sank after the company gave an underwhelming sales outlook, a sign shareholders expected more of a return from the global expansion of AI data centers. Eli Lilly & Co. boosted its 2026 sales guidance after its weight-loss drug franchise performed far better than expected in the second quarter, helping to counter investor concerns that the obesity drug boom is starting to slow. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% The MSCI World Index was little changed Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1552 The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3466 The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.71 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $64,772.62 Ether rose 2.2% to $1,916.32 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.61% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.11% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.89% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.1% to $74.90 a barrel Spot gold rose 4.2% to $4,248.08 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
