Stock futures bounce 500 points as traders shake off firm inflation data and oil prices retreat: Live updates
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Aug. 24, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stocks rose Friday, with investors looking to recover from four straight days of declines, as oil prices retreated. Traders also looked past growing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike following the latest U.S. inflation reading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 500 points higher, or 1%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose by 1%.
The major averages have fallen for four consecutive sessions. For the Dow, it has been the longest daily losing streak since late April.
Crude prices eased, giving back some of the sharp gains seen this week due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 3% to $99.44 per barrel. Brent futures slid 2.74% as well to $104.68 per barrel.
Still, both contracts remained on pace for weekly advances of around 8%. On top of that, the latest U.S. inflation data shows higher energy prices putting upward pressure on consumer goods.
CPI rose 0.4% in August month over month and 3.4% year over year, matching Dow Jones estimates. Core CPI, which excludes energy and food, climbed 0.3% from the month prior, slightly more than expected.
Yields were mostly steady after the report, though the 2-year Treasury yield touched its highest level since July 2024, reflecting increasing expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike. The CME Group's FedWatch tool shows an 85.6% chance of a quarter-point rate hike next week.
"The debate has quickly shifted from whether the Fed will hike to the more important question of how many hikes this cycle will ultimately require," Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said. "We do not expect the Fed to be one-and-done. This is no longer simply about fine-tuning the economy. After half a decade of above-target inflation, policymakers are likely to conclude that more than one hike will be needed to re-establish price stability."
Oracle erases gains, turns negative on the day
Oracle's post-earnings rally was short-lived, with the stock last trading just below the flatline. At one point, shares were up as much as 10.3%.
ORCL rally fizzles
— Fred Imbert
Wells Fargo sets $300 price target for AbbVie
AbbVie logo on modern glass office building with metal columns, South San Francisco, California, Oct. 16, 2025.
Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
Investment bank Wells Fargo set a 12-month price target for pharmaceutical company AbbVie of $300 on Thursday, giving the Chicago-based company an overweight rating, which is equivalent to a buy.
Analyst Mohit Bansal said the AbbVie has solid patent protection for its core business units and that he is expecting updates on the firm's work in oncology and neuroscience.
"We rate ABBV Overweight, as we think that the stock is reasonably priced for strong growth into the next decade, coupled with long-term patent protection for key businesses. We expect mid-stage pipeline to come to limelight in next 12 months, which should help with multiple expansion,"
– Tobias Burns
Consumer sentiment slides as inflation expectations rise
Consumer sentiment fell to 47.8 in September down from the 51.7 read in August, according to the University of Michigan's benchmark survey. Year-ahead inflation expectations increased to 4.6% in September, up from 4% in August, while 5-year-ahead expectations rose to 3.4% in September from a 3.3% level in the June to August period.
– Tobias Burns
JPMorgan downgrades Chewy to neutral
JPMorgan downgraded Chewy to neutral from overweight, setting a price target to $24, implying roughly 14% downside from Thursday close.
Chewy Stock price (Year-to-date)
The bank's analyst Doug Anmuth points to continued pressure on organic growth from continued macro headwinds.
"While the consumer backdrop did not deteriorate further relative to the trends observed exiting 1QFY, it also did not meaningfully recover w/continued pressure across discretionary attachment & premiumization during 2Q," Anmuth said in a note.
The analyst said Chewy is still gaining market share and seeing healthy customer additions, retention and engagement. Its recent acquisitions SmartPak and Modern Animal both performed ahead of expectations in the second quarter.
Anmuth said Chewy expects AI initiatives to generate low tens of millions of dollars in savings this year, rising to about $50 million annualized in fiscal 2027.
"However, we are moving to a Neutral rating (from Overweight) given the challenged industry backdrop & muted organic growth," the analyst said.
— Deena Zaidi
Dow rallies at open
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, but core inflation was higher than estimated
Customers shop at a grocery store on Sept. 10, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
The consumer price index rose 0.4% in August, putting the annual rate at 3.4%. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, increased 0.3% on a monthly basis, while the annual rate came in at 2.4%. Most of the numbers were in-line with Dow Jones estimates, but core inflation increased 0.1 percentage point more than anticipated.
—Christina Cheddar Berk
Investors will 'look beyond' September seasonality to focus on gains, Wells Fargo predicts
September is a traditionally weak month for stock returns, but recent profitability and capital expenditure trends imply stock gains through the rest of the year, analysts at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute wrote in a Thursday note.
"We believe investors will look beyond the uncertainties of higher interest rates, elevated oil prices and midterm elections to focus on continued economic growth and robust earnings through year-end and into 2027, supporting higher stock prices," Douglas Beath at Wells Fargo said.
U.S. pre-tax profits in the second quarter hit $4.8 trillion, or 17.9% of national income, according to Commerce Department data. That's the highest share since records began in 1947.
Profits after tax also hit an all-time high, rising to 14.6% of national income, almost a full percentage point above their first-quarter share of 13.7%.
– Tobias Burns
GameStop, National Beverage among the stocks making big moves before the bell
- GameStop — The video game retailer and meme stock climbed more than 3% after CEO Ryan Cohen disclosed he purchased 1 million shares at an average price of $20.375. Cohen now owns 39.347 million shares. As of Thursday's close, that stake was valued at around $802.28 million.
- National Beverage — The parent company of La Croix sparkling water fell more than 5% after reporting fiscal first-quarter results. National Beverage earned 50 cents per share on revenue of $331 million. The company said it felt pressure from tariffs, weakening consumer sentiment and elevated packaging and ingredient costs.
- Oracle — The software giant leapt more than 6% after surpassing the Street's expectations in its fiscal first quarter. Oracle earned $1.92 per share on an adjusted basis and posted revenue of $19.35 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG sought $1.74 per share and $19.14 billion. Revenue from cloud infrastructure more than doubled to $7.4 billion, trouncing the $7.09 billion estimate.
Read the full story here.
— Fred Imbert
Oracle on pace for best day since Aug. 3
The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) to the podium on Sept. 9th, 2026.
NYSE
Oracle shares traded around 7% higher in the premarket. If that gain holds through Friday's close, it would mark the stock's biggest one-day advance since Aug. 3, when it jumped 9.2%.
ORCL 5-day chart
— Fred Imbert
Treasury yields steady following sell-off
U.S. Treasurys steadied on Friday, as bond markets remained on edge after yields surged to multiyear highs during Thursday's session.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield — the benchmark for mortgage borrowing, auto loans and credit card debt — was flat in early trade at 4.9424%. Yields on the 10-year note spiked 11 basis points during the previous session to their highest level since October 2023.
U.S. 10-year Treasury.
The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield, which is more sensitive to geopolitical risks, was also holding steady, at 5.3565%.
The 2-year Treasury note yield, which tends to react in line with short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, was also largely unchanged at 4.5555%.
— Hugh Leask
Asia-Pacific markets close lower as elevated bond yields and oil prices hit sentiment
Asia-Pacific markets ended lower Friday, as higher bond yields and elevated oil prices dented investor sentiment.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index shed 1.76% to 6,909.91 while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.95% to 820.64.
Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.93% to end the trading day at 64,011.34, while the Topix declined 0.65% to 4,028.3.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.89% to end at 8,741.2.
Mainland China's CSI 300 declined 0.84% to 4,510.16, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.65% as of its last hour of trading.
— Lee Ying Shan
European stock markets start Friday's session in the green
A trader looks at her screens in the trading room at the stock exchange.
Picture Alliance | Getty Images
European stocks moved higher shortly after 8:10 a.m. in London (3:10 a.m. E.T), with most regional sectors and major continental bourses in the green.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.31% in early trade.
Travel and leisure stocks led early gains, up 0.93%, followed by banks, which gained 0.87%, and autos and parts, up 0.78%.
Italy's FTSE MIB advanced 0.82%, the French CAC 40 gained 0.59%, and Germany's DAX rose 0.41%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was also marginally above the flatline in early trade.
— Hugh Leask
Sterling rises, gilt yields fall after UK GDP beat
The British pound was up 0.12% against both the U.S. dollar and the euro by 8 a.m. in London (3 a.m. ET), following the U.K.'s gross domestic product surprise to the upside.
GBP/USD
Yields on U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, fell across the curve, bucking the global trend that saw government borrowing costs rise on bonds issued by various nations.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
European government bond yields
"The U.K. may have delivered the strongest growth performance in the G7 through the first half of 2026, but markets remain preoccupied with the ongoing sell-off in global bond markets," George Vessey, lead FX and macro strategist at Convera, said in an email. "U.K. borrowing costs have surged alongside peers, with long-dated gilt yields hovering around levels last seen almost several decades ago."
For sterling, he said, this creates tension.
"Stronger growth helps justify the market's relatively hawkish Bank of England expectations and offers near-term support to the pound," Vessey explained. "However, if elevated borrowing costs continue to erode fiscal headroom ahead of October's Autumn Budget, the bond market story could eventually spill over into a currency story."
— Chloe Taylor
UK economy grew 1.6% in year to July, beating expectations
Tourists and domestic visitors on Westminster Bridge on 15th July 2026 in London, United Kingdom.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images
The U.K. economy grew faster than expected in July, preliminary data showed on Friday.
Gross domestic product rose 1.6% in the year to July, exceeding the 1.2% year-on-year growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.
On a monthly basis, GDP grew by 0.4%, beating the 0% growth forecast in the Reuters consensus. It followed monthly growth of 0.3% in June and no growth in May.
July's growth was largely driven by growth in the services sector, the Office for National Statistics said Friday.
— Chloe Taylor
10-year Treasury yield nears 5% as sell-off deepens
The 10-year Treasury yield pushed closer to 5% on Friday as selling pressure persisted across the bond market, with investors focused on inflation risks, heavy supply and the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.
The 10-year yield rose about 1 basis point to 4.955%, while the 30-year yield edged higher to 5.362%.
The 30-year yield has moved beyond the roughly 5.30% level that BMO Capital Markets' Ian Lyngen has described as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's informal "line-in-the-sand," putting renewed focus on whether the government's more active buyback program can contain pressure at the long end.
Lyngen on Thursday wrote that the program could still improve liquidity in less-traded Treasurys, but added that if Bessent's goal was to restrain outright yields, "the results thus far have surely been disappointing."
BMO added that the latest sell-off has also been supported by heavy corporate issuance, resilient U.S. employment data and mounting fiscal concerns, while investors await inflation data and the Fed's policy decision.
"For the moment, the fiscal narrative is a powerful one and is having a historically disproportionate influence on the level of US borrowing costs," Lyngen said, adding that they were reluctant to bet against the bearish momentum until the market gets through the latest supply, inflation data and Fed decision.
— Lee Ying Shan
Oil extends gains amid worries over supply disruptions as Mideast tensions escalate
The price of Brent crude on financial markets is displayed on a smartphone screen on a reflective surface with the Iranian flag projected onto it in Creteil, France, on September 9, 2026, as Brent crude crossed the symbolic threshold of $100 per barrel following a renewed escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Oil extended gains on Friday, after surging past $100 per barrel on persistent concerns over supply disruptions, following a sharp escalation in fighting in the Middle East this week.
Futures for international benchmark Brent crude for November delivery gained 0.54% to $108.21 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for October advanced 0.47% to $102.96 per barrel.
According to Al Jazeera, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly said that its navy struck a U.S. "Saildrone-type" unmanned vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, "thwarting its aggressive mission."
Meanwhile, projectiles hit two vessels off the coast of Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre. News that the Houthis captured the strategic port city of Mocha in Yemen, as well as reports of more vessels being targeted in the Strait of Hormuz, also weighed on market sentiment.
"Any further deterioration could tighten the physical market more and extend the advance, while a recovery in transit volumes or credible signs of de-escalation could allow prices to ease," said Daniel Takieddine, co-founder and CEO at Sky Links Capital Group.
—Justina Lee
Chinese Nvidia rival Enflame soars 206% on stock market debut as AI demand stays hot
Chinese chipmaker Enflame, which is developing domestic alternatives to U.S. rivals such as Nvidia, saw shares soar 206% in their Shanghai debut.
The company saw huge demand, with its initial retail offering drawing orders for over 6,000 times the shares available before it reallocated more stock to that group.
Enflame, which is backed by tech giant Tencent, is considered one of China's so-called "four little dragons" of AI chipmaking and is the last of that group to go public.
The other three all surged on listing, and have remained higher since. In December, MetaX soared nearly 700% on its first day of trading, while Moore Threads gained over 400% on its trading debut. Biren jumped 76% on its IPO in January.
Read the full story here.
—Kai Nicol-Schwarz, Jenny Lee, Evelyn Cheng
Bessent says ‘a large bank’ will be sanctioned on Monday as U.S. piles economic pressure on Iran
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent points as reporters raise their hands during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran, at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., Aug. 24, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
"A large bank" will be sanctioned by the U.S. next week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.
"We're going to do it on Monday because we want to honor the memory of our fallen citizens on 9/11. But watch this space on Monday," Bessent said during an appearance on "Real America's Voice," without naming the financial institution nor the country.
The announcement come after Trump's administration sanctioned the Dubai branches of the second largest bank in Egypt which is believed to have given Iranians $1.8 billion of funds. According to Bessent, Turkey's largest bank "that had been giving to the Iranians" will also be closed.
—Justina Lee
Japan and South Korean equities lead Asia-Pacific markets lower
Asia-Pacific markets fell in early trade on Friday, with South Korean and Japan equities leading declines in the region.
The benchmark Kospi index shed 2.7%, with index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics down 4% and3.8% respectively. The small-cap Kosdaq was down over 2%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 2.6%, while the Topix declined 1.86%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 1% lower.
— Lee Ying Shan
Asia-Pacific markets set to fall on rising worries of a prolonged Iran war
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower Friday, as investors weighed prospects of a prolonged U.S.-Iran war and top White House advisors reportedly warned President Donald Trump that the conflict could stretch beyond his term.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was set to fall, with its Chicago and Osaka futures contracts last at 63,600 and 63,540, respectively, compared with the index's previous close of 65,270.95.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were at 24,701, lower than the index's last close of 24,954.47.
Futures for Australia's S&P/ASX 200 last traded at 8,733, compared with the index's previous close of 8,819.4.
Top White House advisors have discussed with Trump the possibility that the Iran war could drag on past Inauguration Day in January 2029, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal.
The report contradicts Trump's claim Wednesday that the war would end immediately after the midterm elections. He has asserted for months the conflict was drawing to a close, only for fighting to escalate. Trump claimed to reporters Wednesday that oil and gasoline prices would fall after the midterms.
— Lee Ying Shan
Oracle reports stronger-than-expected quarterly results
The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) to the podium on Sept. 9th, 2026.
NYSE
Shares for Oracle popped over 4% after the company beat on revenue and earnings per share against LSEG consensus.
In the first quarter, the company reported $1.92 in earnings per share on an adjusted basis, while analysts polled by LSEG expected $1.74 per share. The company recorded $19.35 billion for revenue compared to LSEG's consensus of $19.14 billion.
In a briefing with reporters, the company's finance chief said its full-year guidance on capital spending remains unchanged.
— Ananya Chetia
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Several stocks made dramatic moves in extended trading as a slate of companies posted their latest earnings reports:
- Oracle — The software giant leapt 6% after surpassing the Street's expectations in its fiscal first quarter. Oracle earned $1.92 per share on an adjusted basis and posted revenue of $19.35 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG sought $1.74 per share and $19.14 billion.
- Adobe — The maker of Adobe Creative Cloud slid 2% after reporting current-quarter guidance that was roughly in line with estimates. Adobe sees adjusted earnings of $6.30 to $6.35 per share, versus the LSEG consensus call for $6.32 per share. Revenue for the period is expected to range from $6.80 billion to $6.85 billion, compared to the $6.85 billion consensus.
Read more about movers in extended trading here.
— Ananya Chetia