U.S. stocks rallied broadly at midday Thursday, bouncing off the four-session slide that had dragged the Nasdaq 100 back below its August close, after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller signaled he could back leaving interest rates on hold this month.
“If there is continued progress toward our 2% goal, then I am willing to support holding the policy rate at its current level,” Waller said.
Traders now price in roughly a 50% probability of a September rate hike, down from about 70% earlier in the week.
That was enough to spark a broad-based relief rally, with the most rate-sensitive corners of the market – software, small caps and anything crypto-linked – leading the bounce.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note eased to 4.75%, down 4 basis points, after touching 4.81% earlier in the week, its highest level since October 2023. The rate-sensitive 2-year yield fell 5 basis points to 4.34%, while the 30-year held at 5.23%, down 3 basis points.
The dollar index slid to 99, a near two-week low, with the greenback dropping 2.1% against the yen after a potential new intervention from Tokyo.
That dollar weakness lit a fire under Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), which surged 4.6% to about $80,900, dragging the entire listed crypto complex higher.
The S&P 500 rose 0.96% to 7,740.14, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed with a 1.1% advance, adding 597 points to 53,658.71.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.0% to 29,439.78. Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) jumped 7.4%, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) added 3.8% and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 3.3%, while Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) gained 1.7%.
Data flow was constructive. The ISM Services PMI jumped to 55.4 in August from 54.1, beating the 54.3 consensus and marking the strongest services expansion in six months, though the prices-paid subindex spiked to a four-year high of 72.6.
Gold pushed toward the $4,500 handle, rising 2.4% to $4,492 an ounce as the dollar and real yields retreated.
Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices
| Index | Last | % Change | MTD | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,740.14 | +0.96% | +0.7% | +13.1% |
| Dow Jones | 53,658.71 | +1.12% | +0.9% | +11.6% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 29,439.78 | +1.02% | -0.1% | +16.6% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,965.05 | +0.40% | +0.3% | +19.5% |
According to the Benzinga Pro platform:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 0.9%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) rose 1.2%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) climbed 1.0%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) added 0.4%.
Crypto Complex Rips As Hike Fears Fade and Food Stocks Get Crushed
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) led all sectors with a 1.8% gain, powered by Tesla. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) rose 1.2% and the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) added 1.2%.
At the other end, the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) was the sole meaningful decliner, off 0.6%, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) down 0.2%, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) off 0.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) flat as crude’s advance stalled.
At the industry level, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) surged 3.1% on bullion’s move toward $4,500, while the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NASDAQ:FDN) rallied 2.5% and the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (NYSE:KIE) rose 1.8%. The VanEck Agribusiness ETF (NYSE:MOO) was the weakest industry group, down 1.1%.
Software was the epicenter of the rally.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) soared 21.9% after Wednesday’s post-close print showed fiscal second-quarter product revenue of $1.49 billion, up 37% year-over-year, with third-quarter product revenue guided to $1.59 billion against $1.50 billion consensus. Management lifted its full-year product revenue forecast to $6.07 billion from $5.84 billion in May and raised its adjusted operating margin target to 14.5% from 13.5%.
The read-through was immediate across enterprise software. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) jumped 8.3%, Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) gained 6.9%, ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) rose 6.0%, Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) added 5.3% and CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) climbed 4.5%.
Crypto-levered equities were the day’s other standout.
Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) rallied 14.9% and Circle Internet Group Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) gained 14.9% back toward $100, with neither name carrying company-specific news in the tape – both moves track bitcoin’s 4.6% advance and the softer dollar.
Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR), the largest corporate bitcoin holder, rose 13.7% on the same mark-to-market impulse, with no fresh disclosure of its own. Peers Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) and Bullish (NYSE:BLSH) gained 10.8% and 12.6%, respectively.
Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SMMT) surged 14.5% after partner Akeso said the Phase 3 HARMONi-2 trial met its prespecified interim overall survival endpoint, with ivonescimab monotherapy delivering a statistically significant survival advantage over Merck’s Keytruda in PD-L1-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Merck slipped 0.9% on the news.
Semiconductors were the drag. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 4.1% despite posting 221% annual revenue growth in its latest fiscal quarter, as the print failed to clear the high end of buy-side expectations. Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) lost 1.2% and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE:HPE) dropped 4.5% after its results fell short. Elsewhere in AI, Nvidia agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $13 billion in a bet on open-source models.
Ciena Corp. (NYSE:CIEN) was the worst genuine decliner in the Russell 1000, sliding 10.4% despite what management called its strongest quarter on record – fiscal third-quarter revenue of $1.67 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.11, up 215% year-over-year, with backlog up $800 million sequentially to $8.5 billion. Investors instead fixed on supply constraints, a one-time tariff-refund benefit to margins, and a stock that had already run hard into the print.
Packaged food was routed. The Campbell’s Company (NASDAQ:CPB) tumbled 9.7% after guiding fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS to $1.65-$1.80 against $1.90 consensus, cutting its quarterly dividend 36% to $0.25 from $0.39, and missing on fourth-quarter revenue at $2.1 billion versus $2.15 billion expected.
Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE:TSN) fell 6.9% after cutting fiscal 2026 adjusted operating income guidance to $1.85-$2.05 billion from $2.1-$2.3 billion, blaming margin compression from volatile cattle prices. The damage spread to General Mills Inc. (NYSE:GIS), down 4.6%, and The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC), off 3.3%.
The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) dropped 6.9% even after beating on both lines – fiscal third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.33 versus $1.30 consensus on revenue of $1.23 billion against $1.19 billion – and raising full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $4.60-$4.65 from $4.50-$4.62. The market focused on Professional-segment margin pressure, a higher tax rate and the narrow upside embedded in the revised outlook.
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) fell 8.3% with results not due until after Thursday’s close and no confirmed company news in the tape, and the move reads as pre-print positioning, with some rotation toward newly listed Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), which rose 5.7% on nearly 60 million shares.
Thursday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Snowflake Inc. | +21.91% |
| Robinhood Markets, Inc. | +14.92% |
| Circle Internet Group, Inc. | +14.85% |
| Summit Therapeutics Inc. | +14.47% |
| Strategy Inc | +13.66% |
Thursday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Ciena Corporation | -10.39% |
| The Campbell’s Company | -9.74% |
| Planet Labs PBC | -8.32% |
| Tyson Foods, Inc. | -6.89% |
| The Toro Company | -6.85% |
Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
