US open: Stocks trade higher as yields move lower

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a positive start on Thursday after major indices snapped a threeday losing streak in the prior session, with easing Treasury yields offering some relief following renewed fighting between the US and Iran.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.53% at 53,341.96, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.42% to 7,698.95 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.68% firmer at 26,395.99.

The Dow opened 280.01 points higher on Thursday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as stocks rebounded slightly after recent losses sent markets to a four-week low.

As for Thursday's early moves, yields moved lower across the curve as traders digested a number of data points after a sharp global bond selloff. The benchmark 10year Treasury yield was down more than three basis points at 4.753%, while the 30year yield was two and a half basis points lower at 5.235%. The twoyear yield, which is more sensitive to Federal Reserve policy expectations, was nearly six basis points lower at 4.33%.

Oil prices were also in focus as investors assessed the latest escalation in Middle East tensions, with Brent crude for November delivery up 0.33% at $95.95 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate for October advaned 0.63% at $91.58 a barrel after Kuwait's army said it was confronting hostile missile and drone attacks from Iran, a day after Donald Trump remarked that renewed hostilities between Washington and Tehran would not last "too long".

On the macro front, US employers announced 52,881 job cuts in August, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, up from 33,429 in July but still 38.5% lower than a year earlier, marking the lowest August total since 2022. Consumer products led with 10,057 cuts, driven by reductions at Procter & Gamble and Estée Lauder, while food producers followed with 7,982 cuts, with Tyson accounting for nearly a third amid a historic cattle shortage. Year-to-date, technology remained the largest contributor with 155,126 cuts so far in 2026, followed by transportation with 42,279, health care and products with 35,637, consumer products with 28,574, and services with 26,778.

Elsewhere, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 29 August, according to the Labor Department, extended recent resilience in the labour market despite an unexpected contraction in payrolls. Initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 206,000, broadly in line with expectations of 205,000 and in keeping with a recent run of low claim counts since hitting an almost 60-year low of 189,000 in mid July. Continuing claims rose by 8,000 week-on-weel to 1.77m in the earlier period, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, came in at 207,250, an increase of 1,500 from the prior week.

On another note, the US trade deficit widened in July as exports fell and imports rose, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, with the goods and services gap increasing to $88.6bn after a sharp rise in the goods deficit and a small uptick in the services surplus. Exports dropped to $310.7bn, down $6.6bn from June, driven by lower shipments of industrial supplies, crude oil, nonmonetary gold and computers, partly offset by higher capital goods, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. Imports, on the other hand, climbed to $399.3bn, up $10.8bn, led by strong gains in capital goods, computers, accessories and semiconductors, while industrial supplies and crude oil declined. Yeartodate, the overall deficit narrowed 29.6% to $188.4bn as exports rose 12% and imports increased 1.9%.

Moving on, US labour productivity picked up in the second quarter, with nonfarm productivity rising at an unrevised annualised rate of 1.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, helping to keep labour costs contained after a 0.8% increase in the first quarter. Productivity was up 2.2% yearonyear, with economists and policymakers expecting wider adoption of artificial intelligence to support future gains and help restrain inflation. Unit labour costs rose at a downwardly revised 1.2% pace, compared with the previously reported 1.3%, while labour costs were 1.4% higher than a year earlier.

Still on data, S&P Global's services purchasing managers index rose to 56.5 in August from 54.6 in July, marking the strongest expansion in private sector activity since late 2020, despite being a downward revision from preliminary estimates, while S&P's composite PMI held at 56 in August, its highest level in more than four years and up from 54.5 in July, signalling a third straight month of accelerating private sector growth.

Finally, the Institute for Supply Management's services PMI rose to 55.4 in August, up from 54.1 in July, beating expectations and marking the strongest sector expansion in six months as business activity, new orders, inventories and backlogs all accelerated. Employment contracted for a second month and price pressures hit a fouryear high, driven by rising petroleumrelated costs, while supplier deliveries slowed further and respondents highlighted tariffs and the Middle East conflict as key supplychain headwinds.

In the corporate space, Victoria's Secret said secondquarter net sales rose ten percent to $1.611bn, near the top end of its guidance, with operating income increasing to $257m and adjusted operating income of $124m coming in ahead of expectations, prompting the retailer to raise its fullyear 2026 net sales and adjusted operating income guidance, while Campbell's posted weaker fourthquarter and fullyear results, with sales, underlying earnings and adjusted earnings per share all coming in lower year-on-year, but raised its FY27 guidance, targeting $500m in cost savings by 2030 and resetting its dividend to speed up debt reduction.

Still to come, Lululemon Athletica and DocuSign were both scheduled to report earnings after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $266.37 3.26%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $1,034.40 3.03%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $511.08 2.99%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $371.86 1.67%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $235.19 1.22%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $360.32 1.21%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $89.11 1.14%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $212.43 0.49%

American Express Co. (AXP) $330.63 0.41%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $440.76 0.35%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $107.99 -1.99%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $149.74 -1.28%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $258.38 -1.03%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $30.96 -0.93%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $316.81 -0.50%

3M Co. (MMM) $166.79 -0.47%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $147.07 -0.41%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $326.24 -0.34%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $787.09 -0.27%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $38.15 -0.10%

S&P 500 - Risers

Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG) $119.01 8.83%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.40 5.75%

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $613.33 5.60%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $71.07 5.34%

Copart Inc. (CPRT) $33.65 4.52%

CBRE Group Inc (CBRE) $147.69 3.89%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $228.32 3.87%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $357.80 3.72%

Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $100.07 3.70%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $54.46 3.69%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Amphenol Corp. (APH) $79.86 -49.69%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $52.49 -6.57%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $343.61 -6.08%

FMC Corp. (FMC) $12.60 -5.40%

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $48.70 -4.79%

General Mills Inc. (GIS) $38.86 -4.47%

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $180.20 -4.23%

Equity Residential (EQR) $63.66 -3.50%

ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG) $15.71 -3.43%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.40 5.75%

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $613.33 5.60%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $71.07 5.34%

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,047.06 4.59%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $370.65 4.48%

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $208.85 4.37%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $16.64 4.37%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $228.32 3.87%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $357.80 3.72%

Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $54.46 3.69%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $41.12 -6.89%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $343.61 -6.08%

NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $116.15 -3.07%

Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $25.41 -2.76%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $779.49 -2.68%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $279.85 -2.60%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $428.42 -2.18%

Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $533.90 -2.17%

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $917.00 -2.11%