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August 24, 2026 - 15:48
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Technology stocks dragged down the equity market in a risk-off start to a week stacked with high-stakes geopolitical and economic events.A closely watched gauge of chipmakers sank 3.6%. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.4%. While Nvidia Corp.’s earnings on Wednesday will likely serve as a reminder of the firm’s commanding lead, some big customers have been told that prices of servers containing its artificial-intelligence chips are going up more than 15% in many cases. The news spurred a rout in memory shares.Oil fell below $86, with the market waiting to see the US economic isolation plan for Iran. The drop in energy costs removed some of the pressure from the bond market, driving longer-dated yields lower. Canada’s currency slipped against the US dollar after trade talks between the two countries collapsed.Geopolitics, oil prices, bond yields, and tech volatility all contributed to last week’s stock-market pullback, and they all look to be in play this week as well, according to Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.“Details about US economic sanctions on Iran, the Treasury’s attempts to lower long-term yields, and economic data may shape much of the sentiment backdrop, but Nvidia and other tech earnings are positioned to be a major weight on the market’s momentum scale,” he said.Having surprised the market last week with a plan to increase buybacks of longer-dated notes, bondholders now want specific details on a “financial initiative” touted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as a way of tackling the country’s vast budget deficit.The Treasury could opt to draw down some of its cash pile to fund expanded buybacks of higher-yielding, older securities, CNBC reported.Investors are also looking for Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh to clarify his views on how the central bank should react to stubborn inflation when he speaks Friday at the annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.For the first time as leader of the world’s top central bank, Warsh will offer keynote remarks at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Economic Policy Symposium. With Treasury yields still elevated by sticky inflation and fiscal deficit concerns, he’s under pressure to act more like his predecessors and give clearer guidance of how the Fed might react over the remainder of the year.More recent data have shown inflation, while still above the Fed’s 2% goal, may be starting to cool. On Wednesday, the government will issue the latest personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.Corporate Highlights:Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. is adding a new pool of cash to its balance-sheet toolkit, part of an effort to preserve flexibility as its once-powerful financing model remains under pressure. SoftBank Group Corp. plans a record ¥1 trillion ($6.3 billion) retail bond sale, the biggest by any issuer in Japan, as the conglomerate raises funds for its investment commitments to OpenAI. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. raised HK$80 billion ($10.2 billion) in Hong Kong’s biggest follow-on offering, underscoring its willingness to amass and spend vast sums to take the lead in global artificial intelligence. ByteDance Ltd. is consolidating the resources behind two of its artificial intelligence developer products to bolster China’s most popular chatbot and fight off challengers including Tencent Holdings Ltd. Shell Plc is attracting interest from several potential buyers for its US chemicals business as the company seeks to divest underperforming assets, the Financial Times reported. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 9:46 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.4% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed The MSCI World Index fell 0.4% Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index fell 3.6% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1667 The British pound was little changed at $1.3641 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 159.14 per dollar The Canadian dollar fell 0.5% to 1.3833 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.8% to $78,016.7 Ether rose 1.1% to $2,478.25 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.70% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.26% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 5.06% The yield on 2-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.23% The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 5.23% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8% to $85.49 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.3% to $4,665.05 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
