Stock markets rally after global rout

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on August 5.

Stocks rallied Tuesday, bouncing from widespread losses on Wall Street the prior day.

The Dow rose 294 points, or 0.8%, after surging more than 700 points at session highs. The S&P 500 gained 1% and the Nasdaq Composite also added 1%.

All 11 sectors of the benchmark index rose Tuesday, led by real estate, financials and communication services.

The market’s gains weren’t enough to recover all of its losses from earlier this week, when the Dow and S&P 500 notched their worst day since 2022 after weak labor data spurred fears of a US economic recession.

Still, the mood on Wall Street appeared much improved Tuesday. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which measures bets on expected stock market volatility, tumbled to 26.

CNN’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven barometers of market sentiment, remained at an “extreme fear” reading but rose to 23 from 19 on Monday.

Oil prices rallied. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark, settled higher at roughly $73.20 a barrel. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, edged up to settle at $76.48 a barrel.

As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might change slightly.

Tuesday’s powerful stock rally lost some momentum with less than an hour to go before the close.

The Dow rose 477 points, or 1.2%, after surging more than 700 points at its highs. The S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.6%.

Small-cap stocks are on the rise again.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of US small-cap stocks, rose 2.3% Tuesday afternoon.

The index tumbled 3.3% during Monday’s session, underperforming the S&P 500’s steep decline.

Small caps had seen a boost in recent weeks as investors turned their attention to areas of the market beaten down by sky-high interest rates, betting that the Fed would soon cut rates.

But the dismal July jobs report on Friday fueled recession worries and spurred a broad, global stock selloff.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, August 6.

US stocks rebounded powerfully Tuesday mid-afternoon.

The Dow leapt 717 points, or 1.9%. The S&P 500 gained 2.4% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.5%.

All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 were positive, led by real estate, information technology and industrials.

Shares of tech heavyweights popped. Nvidia shares were up 6.8% and Meta Platforms added 5.6%.

People walk along Wall Street outside of the New York Stock Exchange on August 5.

Investors were in a much better mood Tuesday than the beginning of the week.

The VIX, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, tumbled to about 24 on Tuesday afternoon. The measure had spiked above 65 at one point on Monday as traders feared a potential US economic downturn.

Still, that doesn’t mean investors are worry-free. The VIX’s current level is hovering around the same levels at which it was trading Friday, when the weak July jobs report began sending stocks lower before culminating in the global markets rout on Monday.

CNN’s Fear & Greed index rose but remained in “extreme fear” territory.

Oil pump jacks are shown in a field on June 27 in Stanton, Texas.?

Oil prices ticked higher Tuesday mid-afternoon.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark for oil, rose 0.8% to $73.48 a barrel. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, gained 0.4% to $75.92 a barrel.

That comes after crude futures fell the prior day on worries about a US economic slowdown and concerns about weak Chinese demand.

Crude prices have been falling recently as fears grow that a recession could hurt demand for travel and other fuel needs. Although a recession in the US seems far off, America’s fast-rising unemployment rate is worrying investors.

Those factors have more than outweighed concerns about rising tension in the Middle East.

Oil could hover around current eight-month lows for a while, despite those threats of a wider conflict in the Middle East, according to Tom Kloza,?global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service.

“Beginning with the Hamas action last October 7, we are seeing mostly apathy when it comes to fears about a wider regional war in the Middle East,” he said.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on August 6.

Stocks built upon their gains Tuesday as investors attempted to recover from Monday’s tough losses.

The Dow rose 625 points, or 1.6%. The S&P 500 gained 2.2% and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.3%.

“Volatility can cut both ways, and it’s not unlikely we get a massive rally that undoes a lot of the damage we’ve had in the last few days,” wrote Ben Kirby, co-head of investments at?Thornburg Investment Management, in a Tuesday note.

Still, he cautioned that it could be difficult for the market to sustain its gains over the long-term.

“Without positive catalysts, the momentum of the economy and risk assets is likely lower,” Kirby said.

The New York Stock Exchange is seen during afternoon trading on August 5.

The stock market’s gains continued to accelerate Tuesday midday.

The Dow climbed 562 points, or 1.5%. The S&P 500 gained 2.1% and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.2%.

Cryptocurrencies bounced Tuesday midday after a harrowing Monday.

The price of bitcoin rose 5.2% to $56,905 a coin. That comes after the cryptocurrency dipped below the $50,000 level on Monday as fears about a US economic downturn roiled markets.

Crypto-related stocks gained. Shares of Marathon Digital Holdings rose 2%, Coinbase Global shares gained 3.3% and Robinhood Markets shares added 5%.

In an aerial view, people gather near the Meta headquarters sign, in Menlo Park, California, in July 2023.

Tech stocks began recovering somewhat Tuesday after suffering bruising losses on Monday.

The S&P 500’s information technology sector rose 2.3%. The communication services sector gained 1.8%.

Shares of artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia added 5.7%. Meta Platforms shares rose 5%, Tesla shares gained 0.6% and Microsoft shares climbed 2.2%.

Apple shares were 0.1% lower, extending their declines after after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed on Saturday that it had?sold nearly 50% of its stake in Apple.

Shares of Alphabet, whose Google search business was deemed a monopoly on Monday, gained 0.1%.

The above stocks, dubbed the Magnificent Seven for their market leadership over the past roughly year and a half, shed $615.6 billion in value on Monday, according to S&P Global data.

Read more about tech’s rough week here.

Stocks jumped Tuesday as Wall Street attempted to recover from Monday’s market carnage.

The Dow rose 431 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 gained 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.7%.

The mood on Wall Street also appeared to improve. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which measures investors’ expectations for stock market volatility, fell to 27 from Monday’s level of more than 60.

CNN’s Fear & Greed Index stayed in the “extreme fear” territory but ticked higher to 21 from its prior closing level of 19.

A dramatically bad day for stocks is no reason to take dramatic action with your 401(k).

For individual investors, the quick-turn global rout in stocks on Monday was unsettling, even with news Tuesday that there is somewhat of a bounce-back going on.

Expectations that volatility will continue for the foreseeable future may be unwelcome.

But if you’re investing in a 401(k), daily market dramas are no reason to take dramatic actions with your portfolio. Not only are down days and periods of volatility normal, they can create good buying opportunities for the managers of the funds in which you’re invested. “It’s important to remember pockets of opportunity are always on the other side of the storm,” Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, said in a statement.

Andy Smith, executive director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines, puts it this way: “Separate your emotion from your money. There will be days when the market is up and days when it’s down. Focus on your time in the market rather than trying to time the market.”

His point: It’s impossible to know the best time to get out of the market and then the best time to get back in.

As a 401(k) investor, the best thing you can do is to save as much as you can, diversify your holdings to minimize the risk and volatility in your portfolio, and rebalance your holdings if your chosen asset allocation gets too far out of whack, Smith said.

Checking to see if you need to rebalance your portfolio is something you should do at least once a year anyway – but many of us never do.

Say you set up a portfolio of 70% stocks and 30% bonds but now it’s morphed into a 60/40 portfolio. If 70/30 is still the right allocation given your goals and time horizon, you can direct your 401(k) administrator through your plan’s online portal to rebalance your holdings accordingly.

And remind yourself periodically that even bear markets have not stopped the long-term increases in stocks over time. For example, the S&P 500 has risen more than 80% from August 5, 2019 through yesterday. And since 1960 there have been far more positive annual S&P 500 returns than negative ones, Smith said.

The stock rally petered out somewhat Tuesday midday.

The Dow rose 234 points, or 0.7%, after jumping more than 500 points at the session’s highs. The S&P 500 gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1%.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair?Jerome?Powell?holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington on July 31.

The Federal Reserve is really good at not listening to you. Or anyone, really.

Panic and despair on Wall Street over the slowing US economy and the Fed’s lack of action on rate cuts have led some economists and investors to call on the Fed to take extraordinary and emergency action and cut rates before its next scheduled meeting in September.

That’s not going to happen.

The Fed has and must set policy based on data — and not emotion or market sentiment. It was set up to be free of political influence: The Fed functions as an independent governing body. Otherwise, it could act on political whims or volatile markets and make the economy worse, not better.

“We follow the many commentators who bless us with their commentary, but we don’t change anything in our approach,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week at a press conference.

Markets are a signal the Fed looks at — but it’s looking at financial markets more for signs of instability and risk, not a few bad days because traders placed some bad bets.

“The Fed worries about systemic risk in financial markets, not disappointed investors,” wrote David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth, in a note to clients. “Corrections happen. Even in the best of times, stock prices do not go up in a straight line. Setbacks are part of the process.”

And, as if on cue, the markets bounced back Monday.

“Be careful what you wish for,” said Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research, in a note to clients last week. He cautioned that if the Fed acquiesces to “market cry babies addicted to Fed stimulus,” it would devalue the dollar and wind up hurting markets even more.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on August 6.

The stock rally on Tuesday gained steam mid-morning as investors attempted to come back from Monday’s steep losses.

The Dow popped 433 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 gained 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1%.

CNN’s Fear & Greed index edged higher, though it remained in “extreme fear” territory.

American households are adding even more debt as high interest rates continue to stress borrowers.

Last quarter they added $109 billion more in debt, bringing the total amount of debt Americans are shouldering to $17.8 trillion, according to data released Tuesday morning by the New York Federal Reserve. That’s a new record level of debt since the regional Fed bank began tracking household debt in 2003.

The majority of last quarter’s uptick in household debt came from a $77 billion increase in mortgage balances. Another $27 billion came from the increase in credit card debt.

The Dow turned positive Tuesday morning shortly after the open.

The Dow rose 307 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 gained 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on August 5.

Stocks were mixed Tuesday morning as investors attempted to recover from a painful start to the week.

The Dow fell 42 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%.

That comes after a terrible day for Wall Street that saw a broad stock selloff, losses in crypto and oil and technical problems on trading platforms.

The Dow and the S&P 500 on Monday notched their worst daily percentage declines since 2022 after Friday’s weak July jobs report spurred fears that the US economy is on unstable footing. The Dow cratered more than 1,000 points, the 15th instance ever it has done so.

CNN’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures seven barometers of market sentiment, was at an “extreme fear” reading Tuesday morning.

The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, which measures bets on expected stock market volatility, fell to 32. The index surged to more than 65 at its highs on Monday.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index finished 10% higher Tuesday, clawing back some of its historic losses from the previous day.

Oil prices continued to tick lower. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark for oil, fell 0.8%, to $72.38 a barrel. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, slipped 0.7%, to $75.75 a barrel.

People walk past the Apple store in the Americana at Brand shopping center on December 26, 2023 in Glendale, California.?

Apple is holding on to its $3 trillion market capitalization crown.

The iPhone maker is the only Big Tech company with a market valuation above $3 trillion, with a value of $3.2 trillion, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

Microsoft’s and Nvidia’s values have tumbled below that level, with their market caps now at about $2.9 trillion and $2.5 trillion, respectively.

The three stocks have collectively shed roughly $1.5 trillion in value since the S&P 500 index peaked on July 16, according to Bespoke.

Tech stocks saw bruising losses in July, when investors began high-flying shares in favor of smaller stocks that had been pummeled by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. This shuffle came after a slew of cooling inflation reports raised traders’ optimism that a September rate cut is in the cards.

That slide has only snowballed after a weak July jobs report sparked a broad stock selloff.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stands in the financial district on August 5.

After three days of steep losses that dragged the stock market down 7%, stocks are finally poised to rise Tuesday.

Just not by all that much.

Dow futures were up just 130 points. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% and Nasdaq futures were 0.4% higher.

Those gains are welcome — but point to a much more tepid bounce-back at the open than expected earlier in the morning, when Dow futures were roughly 400 points higher.

It shows volatility still rules the day, and fear remains the market’s dominant emotion. CNN Business’ Fear & Greed Index pointed solidly in “Extreme Fear” Tuesday morning. And the VIX volatility index hit a four-year high yesterday as investors continue to fear a slowing US economy, a lack of action by the Federal Reserve on rate cuts and increased scrutiny of the tech sector.

The Biden administration is maintaining its view that the underlying economy remains healthy, according to conversations with regulators and market participants.?

Monday’s global market rout – while sharply negative – was reported back to Washington as normal course, with no bank failures, central bank intervention, or systemic risk believed to be spreading through the international financial system.???

US stocks looked to bounce back Tuesday. Dow futures were up 170 points, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were both 0.8% higher. Japan’s Nikkei rose 10% after crashing Monday.

While such volatility?would not necessitate?an emergency meeting by the Federal Reserve, renewed focus is being placed on a speech by chair Jerome Powell scheduled for August 24 at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, meeting. The market now expects Powell to provide a clear roadmap for interest rate cuts in the months to come, now that data have shown the growth of hiring and wages slowing much more than expected.

Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and White House declined to comment.

A man looks at an electronic quotation board displaying stock prices of Nikkei 225 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on August 6.

Japanese shares soared Tuesday, clawing back some of their record losses from the previous day and underpinning a tentative recovery on global markets.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index finished 10% higher and the broader Topix closed around 9% up. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rebounded by 3.3%, while Taiwan stocks gained 3.4%.

Markets around the world plunged during Monday’s session when a combination of fears about a slowing US economy, rising Japanese interest rates and crumbling tech stocks combined to trigger a meltdown.

US stocks looked poised to bounce back Tuesday after a walloping on Monday.

Dow futures were up 260 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.9% and Nasdaq futures were 1.1% higher.

That’s a nice rebound, although the broad S&P 500 lost 6.8% over the past month, and the Nasdaq lost 13% and is in correction territory. So we’ve got a lot of lost ground to make up, and an early morning rebound doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory again on Wall Street.

But these kinds of massive selloffs aren’t particularly unusual. While the Dow lost 1,000 points Monday — just the 15th time that has ever happened — it didn’t crack the top 100 worst days in market history when measured on a percentage basis.

Another factor: Wall Street investors are away on vacation, and trading is thin, exacerbating volatility — which, measured by the VIX volatility index, reached a four-year high Monday.

“Our current correction is actually quite normal, especially during August, which historically is a volatile time for markets given lighter trading volumes and the summer doldrums,” noted Carol Schleif, BMO Family Office’s chief investment officer, in a note to clients Tuesday. “The underlying economy is still in solid shape.”

Markets were already in a foul mood last week because of broadly disappointing earnings from Big Tech, especially the heavily weighted artificial intelligence darlings like Nvidia and Microsoft.

Wall Street worked itself into a lather when ChatGPT came out two years ago. And ever since then, investors have been lavishing companies with cash in the hopes that AI is as revolutionary as its evangelists claim it will be.

But Wall Street isn’t exactly known for its patience, and AI hasn’t done much of anything yet besides enhance web searches.

At some point, AI needs to make money for these companies rather than just cost money.

Also not helping tech’s bull case:?Google’s stunning defeat?in its US antitrust case Monday. Google will almost certainly appeal, but the ruling could reshape how millions of Americans get information online and could upend decades of dominance held by just a handful of tech behemoths.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on August 5 in New York City.

When Wall Street starts?having a fit?like the one we witnessed Monday, it’s easy to get sucked in to the drama and start fretting about the state of the world.?If the pros are panicking, it must be serious, right?

Not really, in this case.

Monday’s panic was the Wall Street equivalent of a tantrum from a kid who just got told they can’t have ice cream for dinner.

There are several reasons why the outburst was so dramatic, including the fact that trading volume is thin this time of year, when Wall Streeters tend to flee the trading desk for their semiannual migration to the Hamptons. But don’t let the stock market drama fool you: The US economy is still in good shape, despite some turbulence.

“The sky is not falling yet,” CNN analyst Rana Foroohar said Monday. “And I’m not too worried about Wall Street becoming poor.”

Stocks looked to bounce back Tuesday. It started in Japan, where the?Nikkei 225 rebounded 10%?after crashing 12% Monday. And US stock futures were broadly – if tepidly – higher Tuesday.

Investors are increasingly hopeful that extreme volatility in the markets will push Federal Reserve officials to come to their rescue with an emergency rate cut.

That almost certainly won’t happen.

“There’s nothing in the Fed’s mandate that’s about making sure the stock market is comfortable,” Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in a New York Times?interview?on Monday.

In hindsight, there’s a strong case to be made for why the central bank should have cut its benchmark lending rate at its meeting last week, which concluded before the jobs report came out. Had officials known the unemployment rate was going to jump from 4.1% in June to 4.3% in July, almost a full percentage point higher than where it was at the start of this year, perhaps they would’ve been more convinced the US economy is weakening enough that the benefits of a cut outweigh the risks.

But calling an unscheduled meeting now to lower rates ahead of the central bank’s next scheduled meeting that’s more than six weeks away would be counterproductive, fueling more panic.

US stock futures on Tuesday are rising – a bit – after a rout on Monday in which the Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points, and the broader market plunged 3%.

Today, stocks are looking to bounce back. Futures are pointing north, with the Dow set to open 200 points higher, or 0.5%. S&P 500 futures were 0.7% higher and Nasdaq futures rose 0.7% as well.

But that’s hardly the rebound that you’d hope for after three straight days of stunning declines, capped off by Monday’s enormous sell-off.

Investors remain cautious: CNN’s Fear & Greed Index, which measures market sentiment, remains solidly in “Extreme Fear.” And the VIX volatility index shot up to its highest level in four years.

Pedestrians walk in front of monitors displaying the Nikkei 225 Stock Average figure outside a securities firm on August 5, in Tokyo, Japan.

Japan’s stock market, in particular, was hard-hit by the rapid appreciation of the yen, which undermines the export competitiveness of the country’s manufacturers.

On Monday, the yen hit a seven-month high against the US dollar at around 143. It pulled back Tuesday, down about 1.2% to 146.

The surge in the yen, which started when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) signaled a hawkish tilt in monetary policy in recent weeks, forced many market participants to quickly unwind their yen carry trades, a popular investment strategy.

Decades of extremely low interest rates in Japan have seen many investors borrow cash cheaply there before converting it to other currencies to invest in higher-yielding assets. The undoing of this strategy is the major trigger for the market upheaval, said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management.

Tokyo “represents the epicenter of carry trade unwinds, where the ripple effects were most acutely felt, exacerbating the turbulence and uncertainty for traders and investors alike,” he said.

On Wednesday, the BOJ raised interest rates for?the?second time this year?and announced plans to taper its bond buying. Traders expect more rate hikes to come later this year as the central bank tries to contain inflation.

“I think (the panic over the central bank decision) has been digested, but there are lingering concerns,” Newman said. “The big question now is will the BOJ follow through with another rate rise given all the criticism in the press. I believe they will and are not swayed by public or press opinion.”

Short-term volatility in the stock market remains as the market believes the US dollar has not yet stabilized against the Japanese?yen, analysts from UBS Chief Investment Office wrote in a research report Tuesday.

“It is too early to conclude that the Japanese stock market has hit a bottom,” they said, adding that any recovery would likely only occur after Japanese companies report first-half earnings in October, or even after the US presidential election in November.

Growing worries about a recession in the US economy and the rapid unwinding of popular carry trades involving the yen had sent global markets into a tailspin starting Friday.

“Much of the [market] downturn reflects concerns that the US may be heading for a recession,” said analysts from Moody’s Analytics in a note Tuesday.

AI-related tech?stocks?also suffered, impacting equity valuations across Taiwan and South Korea, where chipmakers produce most of the world’s supply of high-end semiconductors used in AI applications, they said.