4:15pm: Bond yields take a breather
Wall Street eked out a modest recovery Wednesday, with all three major indexes finishing higher as a pause in the climb of Treasury yields gave investors some breathing room.
The Dow Jones gained 295 points, or 0.6%, to 53,062, while the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 7,667. The Nasdaq also added 0.5%, ending at 26,218.
Technology and semiconductor stocks provided much of the lift, with Nvidia and Micron Technology among the standout performers. Their strength helped offset lingering concerns about global conflicts, higher oil prices and a string of weaker economic signals that have weighed on sentiment since the start of September.
AI remained firmly in focus, too. The Trump administration filed a 20-page brief backing OpenAI in its copyright fight with The New York Times, arguing that using copyrighted material to train large language models can qualify as fair use. The government said a narrow interpretation of fair use could undermine US leadership in AI and innovation. The filing is not a court ruling, but it puts the administration squarely behind OpenAI on a major legal issue for the industry.
Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Anthropic is now “back on the right side” with the administration following months of tensions over AI safeguards and national security. Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown also welcomed the administration’s push for more data-center development, pointing to job creation, tax revenue and potential additions to the power grid.
With Wednesday’s gains, Wall Street finally broke a multi-day losing streak, although investors still have plenty to watch as September gets underway.
The earnings spotlight now shifts to the after-hours session, with Broadcom, NetApp, Snowflake, C3.ai and Hewlett Packard Enterprise all set to report.
3:40pm: Small cap wrap
- Purepoint Uranium Group Inc (TSX-V:PTU, OTCQX:PTUUF, FRA:P5X0) CEO Chris Frostad argues in an op-ed that uranium equities remain weak despite rising commodity prices because the much-anticipated contracting cycle has yet to arrive in full force.
- Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd (TSX-V:RECO, OTCQX:RECAF, FRA:0XD) plans to use proceeds from an upsized C$19 million financing to fund horizontal sidetrack drilling and production testing targeting the Huttenberg and Elandshoek formations in Namibia, along with working capital and general corporate purposes.
- Midnight Sun Mining Corp (TSX-V:MMA, OTCQB:MDNGF) has launched a second-phase exploration program at its Dumbwa copper deposit in Zambia that shifts toward targeted drilling designed to expand higher-grade mineralization identified during nearly 75,000 metres of Phase One drilling.
- Immunic Inc (NASDAQ:IMUX, FRA:10VA) will host a virtual research and development day focused on relapsing multiple sclerosis on September 9 as it prepares for topline results from its Phase 3 ENSURE trials expected by the end of 2026.
2:35pm: Market movers
- Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW, XETRA:5AP) shares fell 10% despite the cybersecurity company beating expectations on key fourth-quarter metrics and providing fiscal 2027 guidance above Street estimates, with next-generation security ARR rising 63% year over year to $9.1 billion.
- Dell Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:DELL) shares jumped more than 10% after the company reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $47 billion, up 58% year over year, and raised its full-year revenue forecast to $192 billion on surging AI server demand.
- Ollie's Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:OLLI) shares gained 7.5% after the discount retailer posted second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.42, well above the $1.14 analyst estimate and up 43% from a year earlier, despite weaker-than-expected revenue.
- FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) reported a wider third-quarter loss as inventory and purchase-commitment charges tied to a new data center power agreement pushed costs higher, while revenue fell 29% year over year to $33 million and missed estimates.
- GitLab shares surged more than 14% after the DevSecOps platform provider beat second-quarter revenue and profit estimates, with revenue rising 21% year over year to $286.3 million as AI-driven demand strengthened.
- MongoDB Inc (NASDAQ:MDB) reported better-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2027 results, with revenue rising 30% year over year to $771.8 million as the database software company continued expanding its cloud business.
1:10pm: Storm appears to be calming
After a day of growing worries about September, the storm appears to be calming, with markets finding some relief as expectations for monetary easing return to focus.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, says Tuesday’s market losses are being reversed as investors take comfort from dovish Fed comments and a weaker-than-expected ADP jobs report.
"The question must be asked, how much of yesterday’s angst was just a combination of ‘back to school’ for markets and the usual ‘first day of the month’ syndrome?" Beauchamp said.
"Bond market troubles don’t disappear overnight, but yesterday’s surge in yields was nothing compared to 2022, so perhaps everyone just got a little overexcited.”
11:20am: Uber cuts jobs
Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER, XETRA:UT8) (Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER, XETRA:UT8), Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER, XETRA:UT8)) is cutting about 3,300 jobs, or roughly 10% of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring aimed at reducing management layers and shifting spending toward its core ride-hailing, delivery and robotaxi businesses.
The restructuring will cut the number of managers by 20%, though some of those employees will shift into individual contributor roles rather than lose their jobs outright.
Uber is also reducing the number of two-person teams by half and eliminating positions more than seven layers removed from the CEO.
10:00am: Inflation fears return
Wall Street was mixed Wednesday morning as investors weighed escalating US-Iran tensions, elevated oil prices and fresh signs of weakness in the US labor market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 283 points, or 0.5%, to 53,050, while the S&P 500 added 14 points, or 0.2%, to 7,645. The Nasdaq was essentially flat at 26,109.
Bond yields remained elevated, with the 10-year Treasury yield holding at 4.79% and the 30-year yield at 5.27%, keeping pressure on markets as investors continue to worry about inflation and the path for interest rates.
The latest labor-market data offered little reassurance. ADP reported that private-sector employers added just 38,000 jobs in August, falling short of economists' expectations for a 47,000 increase. The weaker-than-expected reading provides a somewhat bearish lead-in to Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report.
Meanwhile, oil prices remained in focus after the US and Iran exchanged another round of strikes, extending the first direct conflict between the two nations in roughly a month. Brent crude slipped about 0.4% but remained above $94 a barrel, while WTI held just below $90.
As Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya put it, interventions can buy time, but they cannot change the underlying fundamentals. “The reality is that the war in the Middle East escalates, oil prices rise, inflation eats a part of weak growth numbers, and a global trade war is on its way of destroying decades of cooperation, that helped global economies grow together,” Ozkardeskaya said.
The combination of higher energy prices and softer employment data is making the market's backdrop increasingly uncomfortable, particularly if a prolonged conflict pushes oil prices higher and feeds into inflation.
War weary and headed down
Wall Street can't shake off the war jitters. Futures are pointing lower again, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq off 0.6%, the S&P down 0.2% and the Dow sitting on the gain line.
On the commodities market, Brent punched above $95 a barrel after the latest US strikes on Iran. Trump isn't backing down either, warning he'll hit Tehran "much harder" if Iran hits back.
Bond markets are feeling the heat too. The 10-year yield jumped to 4.79%, and the 30-year hit 5.27%, as inflation fears creep back into the conversation.
There's a side plot brewing with Canada as well. Mark Carney wants Washington to "stop throwing shade" before trade talks resume, though Bessent insists there's no war to speak of.
Today's watch list: ADP jobs data lands as a warm-up act for Friday's payrolls, while Broadcom, H-P and Snowflake report after the bell.