Daily News – 3rd Sep 26
Daily News
Dow Snaps Three-Day Slide as Treasury Yields Cool; Gold Tops $4,400, Oil Eases Below $91 Amid Iran-Kuwait Strikes; Snowflake, Broadcom, HPE Surge on AI Demand
03 September 2026
Today in Brief
Wall Street snapped a three-day losing streak Wednesday as Treasury yields took a breather from multiyear highs, with the S&P 500 up 0.46% to 7,666.60, the Nasdaq gaining 0.45% to 26,217.83, and the Dow adding 295.07 points to 53,061.95, even after the 10-year Treasury yield briefly touched 4.818%, its highest since November 2023. Asian markets were mixed, led by South Korea's Kospi up 1.32%. Gold climbed above $4,400 an ounce on Thursday as the dollar and yields pulled back, while crude oil eased below $91 per barrel after three straight sessions of gains, as President Trump said the latest attacks on Iran would be "short-lived" even as the US remains ready for further strikes. Markets are pricing in around a two-thirds chance of a Fed rate hike this month following Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish remarks.
In other news: Iran struck Kuwait with missiles and drones targeting US bases, prompting Kuwait's army to intercept the attacks; US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a record 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday; the yen extended gains on a hawkish repricing of BOJ rate expectations; IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned that rising bond yields threaten developing countries' debt progress; Snowflake shares jumped 22% on strong quarterly results and AI coding momentum; Hewlett Packard Enterprise raised its forecasts on AI demand though shares slipped on supply constraints; Broadcom topped fiscal third-quarter estimates on surging AI chip sales; and Microsoft said it will begin separately reporting Azure cloud sales in a reporting-segment overhaul.
In Asia, South Korea's Kospi rose 1.32%
In Asia, South Korea's Kospi rose 1.32%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.5%. Japan's Nikkei 225 was little changed, and the Topix was 0.8% higher. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.17%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.61%, while the CSI 300 added 0.6%. On Wednesday, the 2-year Treasury yield hit 4.41%, the highest level since January 2025. The 10-year Treasury yield briefly touched 4.818%, the highest mark since November 2023. Both ended the day off their highs, however. Oil prices were modestly higher on the day, with West Texas Intermediate futures rising 0.9% to close just above $91 a barrel.
Dow rises nearly 300 points to snap three-day slide as Treasury yields cool
Stocks rose on Wednesday as U.S. Treasury yields took a breather from the recent run-up that sent them to multiyear highs. The S&P 500 advanced 0.46% to 7,666.60, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.45% to close at 26,217.83. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 295.07 points, or 0.56%, to end at 53,061.95. The 30-stock index was boosted by a rise in shares of Nvidia and Johnson & Johnson. Stocks have been pressured lately by elevated bond yields as traders worried about the impact of rising oil prices on inflation. The S&P 500, as well as the tech-heavy Nasdaq and 30-stock Dow, snapped a three-day losing streak. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield hit a high of 4.818% on Wednesday — a level not seen since November 2023. Yields in the U.K., Germany and France also rose.
Gold climbed above $4,400 an ounce on Thursday, extending the previous session's rebound
Gold climbed above $4,400 an ounce on Thursday, extending the previous session's rebound as a pullback in the dollar and Treasury yields provided some relief. New York Fed Bank President John Williams said there is evidence that inflation continues to ease as the impact of tariffs fades, while higher energy prices have yet to spill over into other services. Data on Wednesday also showed that US private employment growth slowed in August. Still, markets are pricing in around a two-thirds chance of a Fed rate hike later this month following Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish remarks on Friday. Elsewhere, oil prices halted their rally after President Donald Trump said the latest attacks on Iran would be short-lived while indicating that the US stands ready for further strikes, easing inflation concerns and providing additional support to bullion.
Crude oil eased below $91 per barrel on Thursday after rising for three consecutive sessions
Crude oil eased below $91 per barrel on Thursday after rising for three consecutive sessions, as investors assessed renewed hostilities in the Middle East alongside efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump said the latest attacks on Iran would be short-lived despite indicating that the US remains prepared for further strikes, while reiterating claims that the US controls Hormuz. The US launched fresh strikes on Iranian targets around the strategic waterway this week following roughly a month of relative calm, prompting Tehran to retaliate with drones and missiles targeting American bases across the Middle East. Despite the renewed hostilities, crude shipments continued to pass through the strait at an estimated average of 8 million barrels a day.
Iran strikes Kuwait as Trump says renewed Mideast hostilities will not last 'too long'
Kuwait's army on Thursday said it was confronting hostile missile and drone attacks from Iran, a day after President Donald Trump said that renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran would not last "too long." Kuwait advised residents to follow security and safety instructions, adding that any explosions heard in the country were due to air defense systems intercepting hostile targets. The strikes were targeted at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Iranian state media outlet IRIB said. "I don't think it will [war] be very much longer ... I don't know how much more they [Iran] can take," Trump told reporters on Wednesday, describing the American strikes against Iran on Tuesday as a "very heavy attack," adding that the U.S. was prepared for further military operations "any time we want." Iran had retaliated after the Tuesday strikes, targeting U.S. regional allies Jordan and Bahrain.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright tells CNBC more than 17 million barrels of oil transited Hormuz on Monday
More than 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz by ship on Monday, a record since the Iran war began in late February, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview Wednesday. Oil exports from the region on Monday were higher than prewar levels when Saudi Arabia's and the United Arab Emirate's pipelines that bypass Hormuz are included, Wright said. Around 20 million barrels per day of crude and products passed through the strait before the war started on Feb. 28. Iran is losing its ability to "hold the world economic hostage" as the U.S. military helps oil tankers sail through Hormuz, Wright said. Tehran is "causing some disruption but they are losing that card," he said.
Yen gets boost from hawkish BOJ repricing of rate expectations
The yen extended gains on Thursday after a sudden burst higher in the previous session, though traders stopped short of attributing the move to Japanese authorities and instead pointed to a hawkish repricing of domestic rate expectations. The yen rose sharply to a high of 157.545 per dollar in Asia, its strongest in nearly a month, extending its 0.9% jump overnight that initially put markets on alert for any official intervention from Tokyo. The scale and fleeting nature of the move, however, suggested otherwise. The Japanese currency's rally was broad-based, with the euro sliding 0.57% to 182.90 yen, while sterling fell 0.55% to 212.81 yen.
IMF's Georgieva says rising bond yields threaten progress on developing country debt
Ballooning debt and rising bond yields in advanced economies are threatening to undo developing and low-income countries' progress in reining in their own debts, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters. Georgieva said in an interview late on Tuesday on the sidelines of a G20 finance leaders meeting in North Carolina that bond yields are being driven upwards by higher overall debt levels, continued inflation pressures from the still-closed Strait of Hormuz, and competition for capital from AI-related debt issuance. "This is not just a low-income developing countries problem," Georgieva said. "High debt levels in advanced economies, combined with stubborn inflation, could lead to debt service costs going up for everybody, including for the low income, for the emerging markets and developing economies." U.S. government bonds have sold off in recent weeks, pushing the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield to near two-decade highs.
Snowflake spikes 22% on healthy results and AI coding momentum
Snowflake shares rose 22% in extended trading on Wednesday after the data analytics software maker reported results and guidance that surpassed expectations. Here's how the company performed relative to LSEG consensus 62 cents adjusted vs. 45 cents expected $1.55 billion vs. $1.48 billion expected Snowflake's revenue jumped 35% year over year in the fiscal second quarter, which ended on July 31, according to a statement. The company recorded a net loss of $191.7 million, or 55 cents per share, smaller than the net loss of $297.9 million, or 89 cents per share, one year ago. The company pointed to gains from the CoCo artificial intelligence coding agent, which now has 9,100 accounts, an increase of over 2,000 during the quarter. For the fiscal third quarter, Snowflake said it sees $1.59 billion in product revenue, above the $1.50 billion consensus among analysts polled by StreetAccount.
HPE raises forecasts on AI demand, shares fall on supply concerns
Hewlett Packard Enterprise raised its annual forecasts on Wednesday after reporting quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations, as surging AI-related demand across networking and servers drove growth across its business. However, the company's shares slipped more than 3% in extended trading, weighed down by persistent supply constraints. HPE's high-powered servers are in demand as cloud providers and enterprises invest in AI, server upgrades and data-center capacity. In an interview with Reuters, CFO Marie Myers noted that supply remained constrained, with memory being the main bottleneck, followed by NAND, CPUs and drives, though HPE has signed longer-term supply agreements to improve access to components. "Demand is far outstripping supply."
Broadcom tops Q3 2026 estimates as AI sales surge
Broadcom beat Wall Street's expectations in its fiscal third quarter, reporting adjusted earnings of $3.32 a share on revenue of $29.59 billion, above forecasts for $3.21 a share and $29.25 billion. The semiconductor and software company said sales rose 86% from a year earlier, driven by a sharp jump in artificial-intelligence chip demand, while free cash flow reached a record $13.7 billion. Shares edged higher in after-hours trading to $368.01, up 0.21% from the regular-session close of $367.47, after finishing the day down 0.6%. The company's semiconductor business remained the main growth engine. Semiconductor solutions revenue increased 127% year over year to $20.8 billion, led by AI chips. Infrastructure software revenue also grew, rising 29% to $8.8 billion, helped by VMware-related products and enterprise demand.
Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
Microsoft said on Wednesday it will start reporting sales from its Azure cloud computing unit on a quarterly basis, providing a direct comparison to its top rivals Amazon.com and Alphabet's Google as the three compete in the computing market amid an AI data center boom. Microsoft previously reported a closely watched growth rate for Azure but not its sales. Microsoft will move from three reporting segments to two: one called "Agents and Infra" that will include its cloud computing services, its sales from AI-based software and its revenue from more traditional business software, and one called "Devices and Consumer" that will include its Windows operating system, its Xbox gaming unit and its advertising sales across both its Bing search engine and LinkedIn, the business-focused social network.
