August 3, 2026

Major US stock indexes closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 up 0.9%

International

The main US stock indexes closed broadly higher on Friday. The S&P 500 advanced 0.9% to 7,506 points, bringing its year-to-date gain to 9.6%. The Nasdaq rose 1.0% to 25,374 points, with a year-to-date increase of 9.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5% to close at 52,486 points, also with a year-to-date gain of 9.2%.

Looking ahead to this week, the most important event will be the release of the July jobs report in the United States. Analysts expect the market to see 88,000 new jobs created in July, compared to 57,000 in July. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.2%.

Regarding US Treasury bond yields, rates moved higher across the curve on Friday. The 1-year yield settled at 4.04%, after closing the previous session at 4.02%. The 3-year bond rose from 4.30% to 4.33%, while the 10-year yield climbed from 4.67% to 4.71%.

As for commodities, gold fell 1.3% to $4,049.06 per ounce, while soybeans dropped 0.6% to $430.13 per ton. In the energy sector, WTI crude rose 1.4% to close at $84.77 per barrel, while Brent crude advanced 1.2% to $90.12 per barrel.

Regarding corporate results, Berkshire Hathaway and Palantir, among other companies, will release their second-quarter earnings today. Analysts project earnings per share (EPS) of $5.00 for Berkshire Hathaway, while Palantir is expected to report EPS of $0.34.

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