Stock Market News: S&P 500 and Nasdaq Hit Records as Yields Ease

Lower Yields Gave Stock Buyers Room to Chase the Records

Stocks finally caught a break from the bond market Tuesday. Treasury yields backed off Monday’s highs, crude slipped under $100 a barrel and the buying spread well past the megacap tech names.

The Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 Index both set fresh records, and this time the Dow came along. Every one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors was higher, with utilities and real estate out front. Those two don’t lead on an AI story. That was a rates trade.

At 16:54 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at 51,626.98, up 359.08 or +0.70%. The S&P 500 Index was at 7,840.66, up 66.16 or +0.86%. The Nasdaq Composite was trading at 27,705.89, up 228.58 or +0.83%.

Bond Sellers Took the Day Off and Stock Buyers Pounced

The 10-year Treasury yield gave back about 5 basis points after Monday’s run to its highest level since 2002. Rate-sensitive stocks felt it right away, and the Dow quit sitting on the sidelines while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 made records without it.

Nobody fixed the rates problem, though. The 10-year is still near 5.30% and the 30-year is hanging close to its recent multi-year high. Bond sellers just stepped back for a session and buyers took everything offered.

Oil chipped in. Brent traded near $99 a barrel and WTI near $88 with Middle East exports holding up and the G7 emergency stockpile release easing the immediate supply worry. Cheaper crude and lower yields on the same day took some heat off the inflation trade.

AI Kept Leading, but It Had Company

Nvidia added 1.1% and got closer to a $6 trillion market value, with Meta, Tesla, Amazon and Microsoft all higher behind it. The megacaps are still why the Nasdaq keeps printing records with yields this high.

Marvell jumped about 6.5% after raising its 2028 revenue forecast to roughly $20 billion on data-center chip demand, and it sees revenue somewhere between $70 billion and $90 billion by fiscal 2031. AMD climbed 3.6% after Chief Executive Lisa Su said the company plans to substantially increase chip supply in 2027. Both stocks got paid for putting numbers on the AI revenue story.

Constellation Energy was the best stock in the S&P 500, up 13.9% after Google entered a 3,590-megawatt power deal with the company. Traders who want the data-center trade without owning another chipmaker just got one more way in.

Outside of AI, Option Care Health surged 32.7% after McKesson and Clayton Dubilier & Rice agreed to buy the company in a deal valued at about $5.8 billion, including debt. That’s two days in a row with a big bid on the table after Monday’s cash offer for PTC, and the takeover crowd is staying busy.

Breadth Improved, but the Nasdaq Still Has More New Lows

The breadth was better than Monday, but I wouldn’t call it clean. Advancers beat decliners by close to three-to-one on the New York Stock Exchange and by less than two-to-one on the Nasdaq.

The Nasdaq still logged well over twice as many new 52-week lows as new highs, and that’s with the index sitting at a record.

Earnings Have to Carry the Next Leg

Third-quarter earnings season kicks off next week and the bar is high. Analysts are looking for S&P 500 earnings growth of more than 30% from a year ago, most of it coming from AI-related companies.

Traders already paid up for Nvidia, the hyperscalers, the chip designers and the power names riding data-center demand. There’s not much cushion for a miss with long-term rates still this elevated.

The Fed’s in the background. Traders have the odds of no October move near 79% after last week’s Non-Farm Payrolls report, while a December hike is still largely priced in.

Daily December E-mini Nasdaq-100 Index Futures Technical Analysis

December E-mini Nasdaq-100 Index futures are trading sharply higher at mid-session on Tuesday after posting a new record high at 31,616.50.

The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. The market has posted six straight higher sessions since the last swing bottom at 30,356.75. A trade through this level will change the main trend to down.

A break back under the June record high at 31,336.75 would likely indicate profit-taking. This could lead to a 50% to 61.8% correction of the rally from 30,356.75, but it would not change the main trend.

The market is also trading well above the 50-day moving average at 29,927.21. This is major support as well as a bullish trend indicator.

The seven- to 10-day period from the 30,356.75 bottom could produce a closing price reversal top. If confirmed, the pattern could weaken upside momentum without changing the main trend.

Daily December E-mini S&P 500 Index Futures Technical Analysis

December E-mini S&P 500 Index futures are in a strong position at mid-session on Tuesday. The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. A trade through the August 13 main top at 7,904.00 will reaffirm the uptrend. A move through the two-day bottom at 7,672.75 will change the main trend to down.

The uptrend is also being supported by the 50-day moving average at 7,751.19, which is providing support and reinforcing the bullish trend.

What to Watch

Several Fed speakers Tuesday and Wednesday’s September meeting minutes are the next shots at a bond market that only just backed off. Tuesday’s breadth came straight from that pause in yields and oil. Earnings start next week with high expectations already in the price, and the bid under these records still leans on the long end staying quiet.

December E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures ran to another record Tuesday, six straight higher sessions off 30,356.75, and stayed above the June record at 31,336.75. The bias is bullish because of the new record high, the uptrend on the main swing chart and the market’s relatively strong position above the 50-day moving average.

December E-mini S&P 500 futures were pressing toward the August 13 top at 7,904.00 at mid-session, with the two-day bottom at 7,672.75 underneath and the rising 50-day moving average holding in between.

More Information in our Economic Calendar.