Weekly Market Recap - Friday, 25-Sep

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both higher this week. Nasdaq closed at fresh record levels earlier this week, while the S&P finished the week less than 1% from its August record close.

US equities were mixed in Thursday trading. Stocks bounced off of session lows following a Reuters report that stated that the US and Iran were exploring a phased deal to end conflict. Other areas of focus included the Trump/Xi summit, AI product discounting, and ramping buyback blackout.

US equities were lower in Wednesday trading. Bond yield backup and further bearish flattening was the big story today. The move was triggered by hotter September flash PMIs.

US equities mixed in Tuesday trading, though off worst levels. A few moving pieces today with AI, geopolitics/energy and rates among some of the higher-profile areas of focus.

US equities were higher in Monday trading as stocks ended near best levels. AI trade extended its rebound from recent pacing worries with focus on agent momentum. Rates were likely helped by oil’s move amid some hawkish post-FOMC Fedspeak.

Major US equity indices were mostly lower this week, though the Nasdaq Composite logged a weekly gain. AI had an up-and-down week with some notable Monday and Tuesday softness coming after Anthropic's Dario Amodei last weekend released a call for a slower pace of frontier evolution, citing cybersecurity concerns and worries about unchecked recursive self-improvement. The FOMC this week hiked rates by 25 bps, as had been widely expected, though the tone was more hawkish than anticipated.

US equities were higher in Thursday trading. Oil was a tailwind (though ended the day off its lows) despite mixed takeaways from the latest Middle East updates. Other areas of focus included positive AI updates, largely upbeat sell-side conference takeaways, and next week's Trump-Xi summit.

US equities were down in Wednesday trading, rebounding a bit from their worst levels after somewhat hawkish remarks from Warsh post-FOMC. The Fed raised rates by 25 bp as widely expected, while dot plot showed one additional rate hike for 2026 and nothing more in 2027. Market still pricing in 25 bp of hikes through year-end.

US equities finished lower in Tuesday trading, ending not far from worst levels. Stocks extended Monday's selloff with biggest focus on another oil rally amid latest cautious Middle East and global supply updates.

US equities finished lower in Monday trading, though ended well off the morning's weakness. A rotation out of the AI infrastructure space was today's big story. There’s also a lot of anticipation ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting.