Stocks Up Early as Yields Retreat, Helped by Yen
September 3, 2026
Stocks rose on an early drop in Treasury yields as the yen climbed versus the dollar and a Fed governor made dovish remarks. Tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls data looms large.
Published as of: September 3, 2026, 9:14 a.m. ET
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| The markets | Last price | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500® Index | 7,666.60 | +35.13 | +0.46% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average® | 53,061.95 | +295.07 | +0.56% |
| Nasdaq Composite® | 26,217.83 | +118.05 | +0.45% |
| 10-year Treasury yield | 4.73% | -0.05 | -- |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 99.04 | -0.55 | -0.55% |
| Cboe Volatility Index® | 15.13 | -0.07 | -0.46% |
| WTI Crude Oil | $92.30 | +$1.29 | +1.42% |
| Bitcoin | $78,535 | +$955 | +1.23% |
(Thursday market open) Major indexes got a fresh injection of strength early as the yen rallied versus the dollar, helping ease U.S. Treasury yields. At the same time, crude continued to rise with no sign of progress in the Middle East and investors eagerly anticipated tomorrow's August nonfarm payrolls report. The Federal Reserve's next decision could hinge on Friday's labor data and next week's inflation readings.
In corporate news, AI giant Broadcom's (AVGO ) earnings topped estimates late yesterday but failed to impress market participants. Instead, they appeared to focus on guidance, which topped expectations but didn't match the extremely bullish outlook shared by AI chip competitor Nvidia (NVDA) last week. The softness in Broadcom could spread to other chip stocks today.
Major indexes ended a three-session skid Wednesday in part because Treasury yields cooled slightly, though the 10-year note yield reached its highest level since November 2023 intraday. It retreated early today amid ideas that a successful defense of the yen could ease global inflation concerns. Dovish words today from Fed Gov. Christopher Waller also seemed to ease yields. Waller told Reuters he's inclined to support holding the Fed funds target rate steady at the next meeting but could be swayed to support a hike if progress on inflation reverses.
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Three things to watch
- Payrolls preview: August nonfarm payrolls at 8:30 a.m. Friday is one of two economic milestones scheduled between now and September 16, when the Fed makes its next rate decision. Analysts expect August jobs growth near 45,000, an improvement from the 23,000 decline in July that surprised Wall Street. The July report also included downward revisions of more than 100,000 combined for the May and June data, so another round of cuts to previous data might reinforce ideas that headline numbers each month are overstated. There are also seasonal considerations to remember. "August tends to be heavily revised, so I'm not so sure we should put so much weight on that jobs print alone," said Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research (SCFR). Unemployment is expected to reach 4.2% in August, up from 4.1% in July. Another metric to watch is wages, which climbed just 0.1% monthly in July, while labor force participation kept sliding. Soft jobs data might reduce odds of a September rate hike. The August Consumer Price Index (CPI) is scheduled for a week from Friday.
- Inflation clue ahead: Today's 10 a.m. ET August ISM Services PMI® usually doesn't move markets much. This one might be an exception, mainly because of a tidbit buried within. The prices paid component, a measure of inflation in the services economy, has been above 60% for 20 straight months and topped 70% in July. The 12-month average is the highest since April 2023. This measure indicates what industries pay for many raw materials they use, and July's report showed respondents continuing to pay up for petroleum-related products and plastics. Also, transformers prices rose. However, that report showed the number of commodities decreasing in price up to six, from three the prior month. The prices paid index topped 70% in four of the last five months and could be the norm for a while to come. This ultimately can show up in government measures of inflation and can be passed along to consumers as companies try to protect margins.
- Sector shuffle: The S&P 500 Index is down less than 2% from recent all-time highs. Under the hood, however, there's concern. Two key measures of market health—breadth and the Relative Strength Index (RSI)—suffered steep declines in late August that call the rally into question. Breadth is the percentage of S&P 500 stocks trading above their 50-day moving average, and it dropped below 50% after topping 70% in mid-August. And the RSI, a momentum indicator, slipped from above 65 to just over 50 between mid-August and early September. Narrowing breadth partly reflects large retreats in certain sectors like utilities, industrials, real estate, and consumer discretionary over the last month as many investors got cautious about areas of the market most sensitive to rising Treasury yields. Health care and energy picked up some of the slack. With seven of 11 sectors down since early August, the S&P 500 has struggled to move past levels seen mid-month despite info tech—the largest sector by market capitalization—being up 5.4%. Investors like to see a market with strong momentum carried by a host of sectors, and that's not the case.
Crypto currents
Has bitcoin started something big? Bitcoin has held up pretty well after punching through its 200-day moving average two weeks ago, consolidating in a tight, mostly sideways pattern. The question is whether the bottom is truly in and a new bull run has begun. Unfortunately for the bulls, September ranks as the worst month of the year for crypto prices, with bitcoin falling an average of 4% during the month since 2011, said Jim Ferraioli, director of digital currencies research and strategy at SCFR. On the plus side, the fourth quarter has been a strong one, with bitcoin hitting its all-time high in October last year. To get back there, it'll have to start by challenging the short-term high around $83,000 reached in May. That's also around the average cost basis for investors in spot bitcoin exchange-traded products, meaning some investors might be looking to sell in that area to get out at breakeven.
On the move
- Broadcom fell 3% early. Earnings per share of $3.32 topped the consensus of $3.22, and revenue of $29.59 billion also surpassed expectations, but participants apparently hoped for an even more enthusiastic outlook.
- Snowflake (SNOW) surged 24% early after its quarter beat analysts' expectations and the cloud firm provided guidance that impressed. Snowflake projected fiscal third quarter revenue growth at 37% to 38% annually. Several analysts raised their price targets, noting the report as evidence that AI-driven acceleration continues.
- Zscaler (ZS), a cloud security firm, climbed 3.3% before the open ahead of its earnings report later today and on news of an expanded partnership with CrowdStrike (CRWD).
- Five Below (FIVE) climbed almost 6% in early trading after strong earnings and guidance for the chain of specialty discount gift shops.
- Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) and Nucor (NUE) added 7% and 4%, respectively, Wednesday, both benefitting from the recent breakdown in trade talks with Canada. This might raise demand for domestic steel.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) slipped 4.4% early today despite earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates and above-consensus guidance. Concerns about supply constraints and operating margins appeared to weigh on shares, Yahoo Finance reported.
- Campbell's Company (CPB) shares cooled about 5% after the food and beverage company's guidance disappointed for fiscal 2027, CNBC reported.
- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (RARE) plunged 47% early on disappointing Phase 3 trial results for a drug to treat Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder, CNBC reported.
- Petco Health and Wellness Company (WOOF) zoomed up 12% in the early hours, bolstered by quarterly results that surpassed expectations.
- Nvidia fell slightly after confirming it plans to buy privately held open AI development platform Hugging Face for just under $13 billion. The deal gives Nvidia a platform used to freely share for millions of different AI models, Barron's reported, extending its role beyond hardware.
- Weekly U.S. initial jobless claims of 206,000 met expectations, while the government's second quarter productivity estimate of 1.4% was unchanged.
- Gold (/GC) rose more than 2% early as the dollar retreated.
- Fed September rate hike odds fell to 54% in futures trading this morning from 63% yesterday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
More insights from Schwab
What's driving yields? Treasury yields have pushed higher as markets respond to a more hawkish Fed, still-elevated inflation, solid nominal growth, and long-running fiscal concerns. Collin Martin, head of fixed income research at SCFR, explains the move and what it means for investors in Schwab's latest look at fixed income.
Implied volatility primer: Learn what implied volatility is, how it affects options prices, and how to consider its potential effects before placing a trade.
Headline watching: If scary news events tempt you to change your investment strategy, consider this three-step plan to help stay focused on long-term financial planning and goals.
Getting an early start on retirement planning: Even those who think retirement is a long way off should start saving and investing to give their money time to benefit from compound growth. Starting early tends to give compounding more time to work. Consider a few ideas to get a retirement savings plan on track.
Chart of the day
Data source: CME Group. Chart source: thinkorswim® platform.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
For illustrative purposes only.
Bitcoin (BTC/USD—candlesticks) has been drifting mostly sideways since surging above its 200-day moving average (green line) two weeks ago. It is now nearing its 20-day moving average (cyan line). It could face resistance around $83,000, an intermediate-term peak reached in May.
The week ahead
Check out the investors' calendar for a summary of the top economic events and earnings reports on tap this week.
September 4: August nonfarm payrolls and August unemployment rate.
September 7: U.S. markets closed for Labor Day holiday.
September 8: Expected earnings from Casey's General Stores (CASY).
September 9: Expected earnings from Chewy (CHWY).
September 10: ECB rate decision, August PPI, August core PPI, August existing home sales, and expected earnings from Oracle (ORCL), Macy's (M), and Adobe (ADBE).