Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 8/7/2026

• US Equity Markets rallied sharply last week, hitting fresh all-time highs, as investors embraced strong corporate earnings, easing tensions in the Middle East, and a lower possibility of Fed rate hikes. The S&P 500 rose 3.6% for the week and is now up 13.3% for the year. The Nasdaq surged 5.2% for the week on renewed enthusiasm for AI stocks to bring its gains for the year to 14.8%, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) increased 3.5% for the week and is now up 22.3% for the year.

• Global Equity Markets were mixed last week, with rising hopes around the Strait of Hormuz and government inventions supporting the Japanese Yen. Developed Markets were up 2.4% for the week and are now up 12.3% for the year. Emerging Markets fell 0.5% for the week to bring their gains for the year to 18.1%.

• A Weak Employment Report for July pushed US Interest Rates lower last week. Payrolls for July posted an unexpected decline of 23K jobs, well below forecasts, while prior month's gains were revised lower. The Unemployment Rate ticked down to 4.1% from 4.2%, while year-over-year wage growth of 3.2% hit its lowest level in over five years. While World Cup-related hiring may have skewed activity, the unexpected weakness in labor markets caused the yield on the US 10-Year Treasury to drop to 4.65% from 4.74% the prior week.

• Corporate Earnings are booming. With 88% of the S&P 500 companies having reported their Q2 results, earnings growth is on pace to exceed 50% in the quarter, well above already elevated expectations of 23% ahead of earnings season. Excluding some unusual investment-related gains from recent high profile IPOs, normalized earnings growth is on pace to exceed 33% for the quarter. As a result, investors now expect earnings growth in 2026 to exceed 32%.

Market Data

for the week ending 8/7/2026