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Monday, August 24, 2026
What’s happening: US stocks closed higher on Friday, after last week’s selloff.
What happened: The Dow Jones index jumped more than 500 points on Friday on upbeat economic data after shedding 700 points in the previous session.
Concerns over volatility in government bond yields and stalled peace talks between the US and Iran weighed on Wall Street last week.
Why it matters: Investors have been monitoring the direction of government bond yields, which share an inverse relationship with the stock market. Higher bond yields raise the opportunity cost of holding riskier assets and make stocks less attractive for investors.
US stocks had recorded sharp gains on Wednesday after the Treasury Department announced plans to double the repurchases of 10-year, 20-year and 30-year debt with the 30-year yield jumping to its strongest level since 2007.
Stocks fell sharply on Thursday with government bond yields surging again. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signalled prospects of increased buybacks of government debt.
Stocks recovered on Friday, with strong economic data easing market concerns. Data released on Friday showed the highest growth in the services activity in around two years, helping strong growth in overall business activity. This offset decelerating manufacturing growth amid supply disruptions due to the US-Iran war.
The US S&P Global composite PMI jumped to 56 in August from 54.5 in the previous month, recording the strongest growth since April 2022. Services PMI climbed to 56.8 in August from 54.6 in the previous month, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 53.2 from 53.9.
UBS Global Wealth Management raised its yearend forecast for the S&P 500 index to 8,100, driven by upbeat earnings projections and strong corporate profit growth.
Inflation concerns remained on the radar for investors, as oil prices closed higher for the sixth session in a row after US President Donald Trump warned of economic sanctions on Iran’s trading partners.
Materials and healthcare stocks were among the top performers on Friday, while utilities sector was the biggest laggard.
Shares of Ross Stores climbed more than 4% on Friday after the retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its annual profit outlook.
Robinhood’s stock jumped almost 13.7%, while crypto exchange operator Coinbase Global surged more than 8% after bitcoin prices rose to their strongest level since mid-May.
The Dow Jones index added 517.80 points, or 0.98%, to close at 53,277.01 on Friday. The S&P 500 climbed 0.43% to 7,674.37, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.33% to settle at 29,308.86.
The Dow Jones index ended the week down 0.85%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.43%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ended its three-week winning streak, shedding 2.45% last week.
What to watch: Investors await the release of quarterly earnings from chipmaker Nvidia and software firms Salesforce and CrowdStrike.
Data on PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due to be released this week, will also remain in focus.
Data on Chicago Fed National Activity Index (1630 UAE Time) will be released today. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index, which rose to -0.02 in June from -0.19 in the previous month, is expected to rise to 0.1 in July.
Context: The New Zealand dollar edged lower versus the US dollar this morning but remained near three-month highs.
Details: Data released this morning showed that New Zealand’s retail sales fell 0.5% in the second quarter, after 1.0% growth in the first quarter. The figure also missed market estimates of a 0.1% rise.
New Zealand’s retail sales recorded the first quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2024.
On an annual basis, retail sales rose by 3.3%, slowing from 4.5% growth in the previous quarter and recording the slowest quarterly rise in a year. The latest reading signalled weakness in consumer demand, fuelling concerns over the region’s economic recovery.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is widely expected to hike its benchmark interest rates again next month amid higher inflationary concerns.
Strength in the US dollar also exerted pressure on the NZD/USD forex pair. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, edged higher to 98.82 this morning.
The NZD/USD forex pair fell around 0.1% to 0.5976 this morning, but hovered close to three-month highs, while the S&P/NZX 50 Index declined 0.2% to trade at 13,939.49.
What to watch: With no major economic reports scheduled for release this week, investors will continue monitoring news related to the US-Iran conflict.
Other Markets: European indices closed higher on Friday, with the FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 Index up by 0.64%, 0.59%, 0.37% and 0.59%, respectively.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin warned of retaliatory strikes on Ukraine’s economic infrastructure. The news sent the USD/RUB pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Eurozone’s consumer confidence surged to -15.5 in August from -15.9 in the previous month. The latest reading topping market estimates of -16.3 lent support to the EUR/USD forex pair.
Macau’s retail sales climbed 6.2% year-over-year in the second quarter. This being a slowdown from 16.5% growth in the prior three-month period sent the USD/MOP pair higher in forex trading this morning.
UK’s S&P Global composite PMI rose to 52.5 in August, above market estimates of 51.6, which lent support to the GBP/USD forex pair.
Canada’s CFIB business barometer long-term index dipped to 57.6 in August from 58.6 in the previous month, sending the USD/CAD pair higher in forex trading this morning.
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