Post-close recap — 2026-08-03

How the day closed

• S&P 500: 7,600.50 (+1.48%) — first close above 7,600 (24/7 Wall St.)
• Nasdaq Composite: 25,913.90 (+2.13%) — Big Tech powered the tape
• Dow: 53,178.41 (+1.32%) — record close (iHeart/WOAI)
• Russell 2000: 2,981.91 (+1.73%)

Broad risk-on to start August as a diplomatic pivot on US–Iran knocked oil lower, a hot ISM manufacturing print reinforced growth, and mega-cap tech led a rotation back into AI/software (Yahoo Finance).

Sectors & breadth

• Winners: Tech/communication services led the leaderboard; consumer discretionary firm on Amazon (+4.6%); semis strong (NVDA +2.9%, CRWV +19.5%).
• Losers: Energy lagged as WTI slid on the Iran de-escalation; defensives (staples, utilities) underperformed the risk-on tape.
• Breadth: Positive and broad — Russell 2000 +1.7% confirmed small-cap participation alongside the Dow's record, not a narrow mega-cap-only advance.

Rates, FX, commodities, vol

• 10Y: 4.70% (–5bp) — bid on lower oil / softer inflation risk (Trading Economics)
• 2Y: little changed; front end still anchored by July FOMC hold (3.50–3.75%) and hawkish dissents (CNBC recap)
• DXY: 99.72 (–0.19%) (Trading Economics)
• WTI (Sep '26): ~$80/bbl, lower on Iran diplomacy (Motley Fool)
• Gold: $4,110.90 (+0.50%) — held above $4,050 despite risk-on
• VIX: 15.86 (–0.81%) — vol crushed further with the Iran overhang easing

Drivers & headlines

• Iran de-escalation: President Trump said he "called off an attack" and pivoted to talks, pulling crude sharply off recent highs and lifting equities globally (Yahoo Finance).
• ISM Manufacturing 55.6% (July): +2.3pt from June's 53.3, highest since May 2022; New Orders 56.7. Seventh straight month of expansion — a clean growth beat (PR Newswire).
• Big Tech rerating: CoreWeave +19.5%, Snap +7.5%, Amazon +4.6%, Nvidia +2.9%, Palantir +2.1% into the print (Yahoo Finance).
• Fed backdrop unchanged: No FOMC speakers today; market still digesting July's hold and three hawkish dissents ahead of Jackson Hole (Aug 27–29).
• Rotation math: Lower oil + firm ISM + softer 10Y is the "Goldilocks" combo that lets both cyclicals (Dow record) and duration-sensitive tech (Nasdaq +2.1%) rally on the same day.

After-hours

• Palantir (PLTR) — blowout Q2: revenue $1.94B (+93% YoY) vs $1.81B est; EPS $0.41 vs $0.35 est; FY26 revenue guide lifted to $8.150–8.158B (from $7.18–7.20B). Shares +13% to ~$142 in the aftermarket (Fortune).
• AMD on deck Tuesday PM — Street looking for ~$11.2B revenue (+46% YoY), $1.67 non-GAAP EPS, 56% GM (TradingKey).

Setup for tomorrow

• JOLTS (Jun) at 10am ET — prior print hit a two-year high; watch for hire/quit rates as a labor tightness read into Friday's NFP (Kiplinger).
• AMD earnings after the bell — the AI-hardware read-through after PLTR's guide raise will set the tone for semis.
• Oil follow-through: any headline reversal on Iran talks would flip today's risk-on setup; crude gap-down needs to hold to keep the disinflation trade alive.

Sources: - Yahoo Finance — Monday Aug 3 live blog - Yahoo Finance — S&P/Nasdaq climb on Iran talks - 24/7 Wall St. — S&P above 7,600 - iHeart/WOAI — Dow record, oil falls - Motley Fool — Dow +560, oil plunges - Trading Economics — US 10Y yield - Trading Economics — DXY - PR Newswire — July ISM Manufacturing 55.6 - Fortune — Palantir Q2 crush, guide raise - TradingKey — Aug 3–7 earnings/data preview - Kiplinger — economic calendar week of Aug 3 - CNBC — July FOMC recap