Evening Market Recap - Wednesday, 30-Sep

Major US equity indices were mostly lower this week. Nearer-term Fed rate-hike expectations eased this week with a lot of attention on NY Fed President Williams' comments Tuesday about no need for urgency following September's hike. Another big factor in that downshift was Friday's softer-than-expected September payrolls release.

US equities were higher in Thursday trading, with the equal weight S&P slightly outperforming the cap-weighted index. Yields provided some offset for higher oil amid fading diplomatic momentum and concerns about US-Iran re-escalation.

US equities mixed in Wednesday trading, ending off their best levels. The Mag 7 outperformed today, providing some support. However, breadth was negative again amid the continued debate about how the divergence between weak breadth and index-level resilience gets resolved

US equities ended lower in Tuesday trading, though off from worst levels. A lot of focus remained on bond yield backup, though there are several moving pieces there. It was a busy day of AI headlines, with initial focus on a report of Anthropic IPO details and OpenAI's decision to scrap the planned October release of GPT-6.1 Astra.

US equities were lower in Monday trading. Higher yields were once again in focus with the 10Y near its highest level since 2006 and the 30Y earlier hitting a fresh post-2004 high. This comes amid noisy headlines about possible US-Iran diplomatic progress.

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.