Market Overview

Powell Hints at Rate Cut in September: $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ and $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ Post Largest Gains in Five Months.

The S&P 500 Index rose over 2% intraday, while the Nasdaq jumped over 3%, marking the best single-day performance since February. In July, the Nasdaq was the only major index to decline, ending a two-month winning streak, while the small-cap index surged 10%, the best performance of the year.

On Wednesday, the chip index soared 7% but fell over 4% for the month. $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$ jumped nearly 13% but was still down over 5% for the month. $Qualcomm(QCOM.US)$ closed up over 8%, beating earnings expectations but turned down after hours. $Arm Holdings(ARM.US)$ also rose over 8%, but disappointing annual revenue outlook led to a drop of more than 13% after hours. $Meta Platforms(META.US)$ 's capital expenditure in Q2 was lower than expected and it did not raise the upper range of the annual forecast, resulting in a 5% rise after hours.

Middle East tensions pushed oil prices up by 5%, with safe-haven assets like gold and US Treasuries also rising sharply. Additionally, the US Treasury's decision to maintain the quarterly long-term bond issuance size boosted US Treasuries.