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August 25, 2026 - 22:02
4 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose as a decline in oil prices sent bond yields lower, with traders awaiting Nvidia Corp.’s earnings for clues on whether the outlook for artificial intelligence remains intact.A rebound in chipmakers halted a seven-day losing streak for the world’s most valuable company ahead of its results. The Nasdaq 100 outperformed major benchmarks. Brent crude settled below $90 on hopes for a revival of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran and Oman discussing an interim framework.A news report the US would be returning diplomats to Middle East embassies also helped sentiment, easing concern about an escalation of the war. Lower oil prices reduced worries about inflationary pressures, lifting Treasuries.Traders also parsed economic data before Wednesday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. US consumer confidence hit the lowest level since the start of the year on a deteriorating outlook for business conditions and jobs.A speech by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Friday may further shape the direction of markets. The pressure from Wall Street is intense after a July press conference rattled trading. Analysts have been relentless in calling out Warsh for, in their view, going too far in a quest to limit Fed communications.“We believe that Mr. Warsh is more likely to stick to his guns,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak. “If he does, it’s going to be important that Nvidia has seen a much more positive reaction to its earnings/guidance than most of the other chip stocks have seen this earnings season.”Analysts estimate Nvidia’s revenue nearly doubled last quarter from a year earlier to $92 billion. That’s more money than any of its rivals get in a full year.“Nvidia is operating on all cylinders and they’re doing absolutely everything correctly at this point,” said Mark Malek at Siebert Financial. “We’re anticipating good news here, but so is everybody.”Malek notes that good news is not any not good enough anymore, and any kind of misread or misstep this Wednesday could be a big challenge.“But for investors it could be an opportunity,” he added.Corporate Highlights:OpenAI said its new Jalapeno chips performed better than Nvidia’s current lineup during testing, underscoring progress developing AI processors in-house. SpaceX plans to build a new $100 billion launch site for its Starship rocket on the southern coast of Louisiana, allowing the company to expand operations of the behemoth vehicle that’s critical to its future. Apple Inc. announced upgraded Mac mini and Mac Studio desktop computers, giving the in-demand machines major processor upgrades. Lambda Inc., an AI cloud-computing provider backed by Nvidia, is in talks to raise as much as $3 billion in a round that could tee it up to go public next year, according to people familiar with the efforts. Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. sank after the Foot Locker chain it acquired last year continued to struggle, raising doubts about the broader sneaker market. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% The MSCI World Index rose 0.4% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1676 The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3652 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.14 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin was little changed at $78,922.95 Ether fell 0.5% to $2,462.6 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.63% Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 3.20% Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.99% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.6% to $81.08 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.3% to $4,666.70 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
