This content was published on
August 21, 2026 - 14:06
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — US equities advanced, with crypto-linked stocks among the biggest gainers as Bitcoin headed for its best week in more than three years. Treasuries trimmed early gains as oil wavered.S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%, with the index still on track for its first weekly loss this month. Strategy Inc., Coinbase Global Inc. and Robinhood Markets Inc. rallied in premarket trading as Bitcoin raced toward $77,000. Chipmakers climbed. Europe’s Stoxx 600 was on course to dodge its worst run of losses in nearly a decade.After days of swings that saw long-dated yields hit their highest levels in decades, Treasuries were little changed on Friday. Brent crude struggled for direction, while gold hit the highest level since May. The dollar remained under pressure, falling 0.3%.Investors are assessing the fallout from a week that saw bond yields spike on worries about inflation and spendthrift governments, a surge that prompted the Treasury to intervene to curb long-dated borrowing costs. They are now awaiting a promised new initiative from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent aimed at fiscal consolidation.“Equity markets are vacillating between concerns about the tech sector and rising bond yields, though today, both seem to have declined,” said Joachim Klement, a strategist at Panmure Liberum. “Fact is that the US Treasury can do little if anything to turn the trend in long-term bond yields for good.”Stronger-than-expected manufacturing data helped European equities snap a seven-day losing streak. Still, the Stoxx 600 is less than 2% below its record high, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. remain among the most optimistic about the region’s prospects, a Bloomberg survey showed.“Europe has done much better than almost everybody would have expected at the outset of this year,” said Sharon Bell, senior European equity strategist at Goldman Sachs. “There’s been so much attention on a handful of companies in the US and Asia that I just don’t feel Europe has had its proper due.”Bitcoin rallied as much as 9.4% and headed for its best weekly advance since 2023. A short squeeze triggered by Bessent’s midweek announcement of bigger buybacks of long-dated bonds remains a major driver of the gains.Nearly $29 billion flowed into US equity funds in the week through Aug. 19, the largest inflow in three weeks, according to Bank of America Corp.Strategist Michael Hartnett said if US intervention in the bond market fails to “drag 30-year yield below 5%,” that would fuel a slump in the dollar and cause asset allocation to shift to short risk, short leverage and short cyclicals into midterms.What Bloomberg’s Strategists Say…“The takeaway from this week: there is no universal safe haven. In a world of competing risks, your defences need to be diversified too.”Corporate Highlights:Samsung Electronics Co. said it expects to return as much as 110 trillion won ($79 billion) to shareholders this year, joining rival SK Hynix Inc. in handing investors a chunk of the windfall generated by the AI rush. Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is seeking to buy two separate banks for a combined price of €34 billion ($40 billion) as it wants to prevent being taken over by rival Intesa Sanpaolo SpA. Broadcom Inc. is in talks with a group of lenders to raise more than $60 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal that will benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 8:04 a.m. New York time Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.6% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2% The MSCI World Index was little changed CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1700 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3655 The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 158.70 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 5.5% to $76,654.34 Ether rose 2.2% to $2,368.96 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.70% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.25% Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 5.05% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $86.97 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.7% to $4,594.47 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
