Wall Street closed higher on Thursday, September 3, 2026, as remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller pared back bets on a rate hike at this month's policy meeting. The rally came even as Broadcom shares fell despite a strong fiscal third quarter beat, while Nvidia and Snowflake moved on separate AI related news. Trading built on a week already shaped by a heavy run of technology earnings.
Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close Higher
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 295.07 points, or 0.6%, to close at 53,061.95, while the S&P 500 rose 38.33 points, or 0.5%, to 7,666.60. The Nasdaq Composite gained 118.05 points, also up 0.5%, to finish at 26,217.83. All three benchmarks advanced for the session, as investors welcomed signs that the Federal Reserve was in no rush to tighten policy further. Breadth was narrower than the headline figures suggested, however, with seven of the S&P 500's eleven sectors closing lower even as the index itself advanced, a sign the gains were concentrated in a handful of large components.
Waller Comments and Soft Jobs Data Cool Rate Hike Bets
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said three month inflation had fallen steadily from 4.76% in February, calling it a considerable improvement, and added he would be inclined to support holding the federal funds rate at its current setting if the data stayed favorable. The remarks pushed the market implied odds of a rate increase at this month's Federal Open Market Committee meeting down from roughly 63% to about 50%. The 10 year Treasury yield eased to around 4.76%. The move followed Wednesday's ADP report, which showed private employers added just 38,000 jobs in August, well below the 47,000 expected and the weakest reading since January.
Broadcom's AI Beat Overshadowed by Guidance
Broadcom reported fiscal third quarter revenue of 29.59 billion dollars, up 86% year over year and ahead of the 29.36 billion dollars analysts had expected, with net income more than tripling to 13.09 billion dollars, or 2.68 dollars per share. AI semiconductor revenue climbed 221% year over year to 16.7 billion dollars, now accounting for 56% of total sales. Shares fell as much as 6% during the session after the company guided fourth quarter revenue to about 34.8 billion dollars, slightly below the 35.03 billion dollar consensus. Peers were mixed, with AMD slipping in sympathy while Nvidia held firmer on its own news.
Nvidia's Hugging Face Deal and Snowflake's Earnings Jump
Nvidia shares advanced after the company agreed to acquire AI platform Hugging Face for close to 13 billion dollars, plus up to 1 billion dollars in employee retention bonuses, one of its largest acquisitions to date. Snowflake shares jumped as much as 22% after fiscal second quarter results beat expectations, with adjusted earnings of 0.62 dollars per share on revenue of 1.55 billion dollars, ahead of forecasts for 0.45 dollars per share and 1.48 billion dollars, as product revenue growth accelerated to 37% year over year, extending the day's run of AI driven market moves.
Daily market analysis by BCM Markets.