Stock Market News From Aug. 12, 2026: Dow Slides; S&P 500, Nasdaq Rise; Super Micro, Micron, Marvell, More Movers; CPI Inflation Report
A wave of tech earnings reports helped lift the S&P 500 back near its highest levels on record on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and closed just below its recent record close of 7757.64. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 22 points, or essentially flat.
Hot artificial intelligence stocks like Super Micro Computer and Lumentum helped power the Nasdaq higher after earnings. The rest of the market was mostly subdued as investors digested the latest inflation data and looked ahead to Thursday morning’s July update on the producer price index.
The consumer price index for July was largely in-line with economist expectations. Though inflation continues to run above the Federal Reserve’s target, the numbers had traders increasingly betting interest rates will remain steady through at least September.
Odds of no interest rate hike in September jumped to 60.1% from 51.6% on Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Traders now see a 25.6% chance that the Fed maintains its pause through the end of the year.
Bank of America Securities U.S. economist Stephen Juneau still expects the Fed to raise interest rates by three-quarters of a point this year, but he thinks the PPI data will help decide whether he needs to shift his estimate for the personal consumption expenditures price index later this month.
“But the somewhat benign inflation data over the last two months have increased the risks that hikes will either be delayed (e.g., they might start in Dec) or won’t materialize,” he writes.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury note dipped just below 4.2%, while the 10-year yield was down to 4.68%.
