U.S. equities closed modestly higher on Tuesday, August 25, the final full trading session before Nvidia's earnings and the start of the Jackson Hole symposium, with major indexes drifting near record territory rather than making a decisive move in either direction. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each added roughly 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed with a gain near 0.7% as chipmakers led the advance and helped offset a soft reading on consumer sentiment. Trading stayed cautious and headline-driven throughout the session, with Nvidia reporting after Wednesday's close and Jackson Hole opening the following day, leaving the tone of the market closer to positioning than conviction.
Chipmakers Set the Tone Into Nvidia's Report
Semiconductor stocks provided the session's clearest signal. Nvidia rose about 2.2% to settle near $213 on volume well above its recent average, snapping its longest losing streak since 2022 a day before reporting fiscal second-quarter results after Wednesday's close. The move looked like a classic setup trade, with traders repositioning ahead of a report Wall Street widely expects to show another record data-center quarter. Reaction across the wider chip complex was mixed: Micron extended a strong August on firm demand for AI memory, while some peers stayed under pressure after a rough prior session, underscoring how selective the pre-earnings positioning has become.
Consumer Confidence Falls to a Seven-Month Low
A weaker reading on household sentiment tempered the mood without derailing it. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 89.4 in August, a seven-month low, missing the median forecast of 90.2. The decline was driven by the expectations component, as more consumers voiced concern about the labor market and the cost of living, even as views on present conditions improved. Equities largely looked past the miss, with attention already shifting toward Wednesday's Personal Consumption Expenditures report, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, due out just hours before Nvidia's results in an already data-heavy stretch of the week.
Retail Diverges as Dick's Sporting Goods Slides
Single-stock moves added texture to an otherwise quiet tape. Dick's Sporting Goods tumbled roughly 30%, its worst session since 2023, after second-quarter earnings and revenue fell short of estimates and management cut its full-year outlook. The core Dick's banner still posted solid comparable sales growth, helped by strength around the FIFA World Cup, but the Foot Locker business the company acquired dragged on results, with comparable sales there declining and prompting a more cautious view on footwear demand into the back half of the year. The reaction illustrated how selectively investors are rewarding retail execution this earnings season.
Gold Extends Its Advance Ahead of Jackson Hole
Away from equities, gold continued a striking run, trading near three-month highs and up more than 15% for the month as investors sought ballast ahead of two major catalysts still to come. With Nvidia's results due after Wednesday's close and the Jackson Hole symposium opening Thursday, culminating in Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's first keynote in the role on Friday, demand for hedges stayed firm even as equity indexes sat near record territory. The combination of a stretched AI trade and an uncertain policy outlook left positioning on both sides of the market unusually cautious.
Daily market analysis by BCM Markets.