Evening Market Recap

Sophia Reyes · August 14, 2025 6:59 PM

Market Snapshot for Thursday August 14^th, 2025

S&P 500 – 6,468.64 (+0.03%)

Dow Jones – 44,911.26 (-0.025%)

NASDAQ – 21,710.67 (-0.011%)

Market Performance

Stocks Rebound Despite Surging Wholesale Prices

US stocks closed the session mixed on Thursday, but the S&P 500 managed to eke out a record.

Stocks recovered from early Thursday losses as investors jumped in on the dip, even amid a sobering wholesale inflation report. The late-day rally helped the S&P 500 notch its third consecutive record close, edging up 0.03% to 6,468.54. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.01% to 21,710.67, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.01 points, or 0.02%, finishing at 44,911.26.

Earlier in the session, the S&P and Nasdaq had dropped roughly 0.4%, and the Dow tumbled over 200 points. The declines were driven by July’s producer price index (PPI), which rose 0.9%—well above economists’ forecast of 0.2% and up from flat in June. Rising wholesale prices can foreshadow higher consumer inflation, casting doubt on the likelihood of an imminent Federal Reserve rate cut.

Economic Takeaways –

• July PPI rose 0.9% month-over-month, far exceeding the 0.2% forecast and last month’s flat reading. Services prices jumped 1.1%—driven by stronger trade services—while goods prices rose 0.7%, largely from food costs.
• Despite the hotter inflation print, markets still assign a 94% chance of a September Fed rate cut, per CME FedWatch. Odds for October and December cuts have eased slightly. The Jackson Hole Symposium (Aug. 21–23) could provide clues on the Fed’s policy trajectory.

Gold –

• Gold prices fell on Thursday as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data and a drop in jobless claims lifted the dollar and Treasury yields, trimming the odds of a supersized September rate cut.
• Spot gold fell 0.5% to $3,337.21 per ounce as of 1:50 p.m. ET (1750 GMT). U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 0.7% lower at $3,383.2.

Oil –

• Oil prices climbed about 2% to a one-week high on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of “severe consequences” if his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putinon Ukraine fail, and on optimism that a likely U.S. interest rate cut next month could spur oil demand.
• Brent crude futures rose $1.21, or 1.8%, to settle at $66.84 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.31, or 2.1%, to settle at $63.96.

Crypto –

• Bitcoin (/BTC) slipped 1.6% early Thursday after reaching a record above $125,000 overnight. Expectations for rate cuts continue to support the crypto sector. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated the US wouldn’t buy any more tokens for its reserve, but it wouldn’t sell any either.
• Bullish (BLSH) surged again on Thursday after soaring almost 84% in its debut as a public company Wednesday, with a rally in cryptocurrency-related stocks providing an additional boost, according to Barron’s.

U.S. Government Explores Taking Stake in Intel Amid Expansion Plans

The Trump administration is reportedly exploring a potential stake in semiconductor giant Intel, Bloomberg reports. The proposed move would support Intel’s efforts to expand domestic manufacturing, including its long-delayed Ohio chip plant.

This development comes less than a week after President Donald Trump called for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign amid concerns over potential conflicts of interest, following a letter from Republican Senator Tom Cotton questioning Tan’s alleged ties to China. Tan met with the administration on August 11 to address these concerns and discuss ways Intel could collaborate more closely with the government—conversations that reportedly led to talks of a U.S. government investment in the company.

Wholesale Prices Surge, But Fed Rate Cut Bets Stay Largely Intact

Wholesale prices jumped 0.9% in July, well above the 0.2% economists surveyed by Dow Jones had anticipated, following a flat reading in June. While wholesale costs can signal future consumer inflation, some traders shrugged off the headline figure, noting that the increase was largely driven by a surge in “portfolio management” and airfare—excluding those items, the rise would have been closer to expectations.

Even with the higher PPI, fed funds futures still priced in roughly a 93% chance of a September rate cut, only slightly down from the prior session, though any prospect of a half-point reduction was eliminated, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. “It seems reasonably clear that this wasn’t enough to derail the Fed from another cut or start a cutting cycle,” said Scott Ladner, CIO at Horizon Investments. “This wasn’t a great PPI print, but we’d need to see a few more before concluding inflation is reaccelerating—the kind of move that could really change the Fed’s plans.”

Investors entered Thursday buoyed by recent gains, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting fresh record highs in the prior session, fueled earlier in the week by July’s cooler-than-expected consumer price inflation report.

Top Gainers

Several stocks experienced significant gains. Some of the top gainers included:

TeraWulf, Inc. (WULF) +59.52%

Newegg Commerce (NEGG) +39.39%

DLocal Limited (DLO) +31.31%

Equinox Gold Corp. (EQX) +15.17%

Weibo Corp. (WB) +11.28%

Top Losers

The top US stock losers today, based on percentage change included:

Coherent Corp. (COHR) -19.61%

Scilex Holding Company (SCLX) -17.29%

Tapestry, Inc. (TPR) -15.71%

Ubiquiti, Inc. (UI) -13.89%

NICE Ltd. (NICE) -13.61%

Notables

• Nvidia (NVDA) rose after telling Barron’s and Seeking Alpha its Rubin chip remains “on track,” countering a Fubon Research analyst’s note suggesting a possible delay.
• Applied Materials (AMD) forecast fourth-quarter revenue below estimates on Thursday.
• Cohere was valued at $6.8 billion after its latest $500 million funding round, as the artificial intelligence startup moves to expand its market share in a highly competitive industry.
• Cisco (CSCO) slipped after posting earnings and revenue that narrowly beat analysts’ expectations. Fiscal first-quarter guidance came in close to market estimates. For the year, revenue grew 8% and gross margin landed near the top of Cisco’s projected range. Networking revenue rose 12%, slightly above forecasts, but analysts viewed management’s tone as cautious.
• Moderna (MRNA) gained after Barron’s reported the administration appeared to take a softer stance on mRNA-based vaccines such as those produced by the company.
• Warner Bros Discovery jumped after director Anton Levy bought 325,000 shares, according to a filling.
• C3.ai shares fell more on Thursday, extending their five-session slide to more than 20% as investors continued to react to the company’s preliminary fiscal Q1 2026 results, covering the period ended July 31.
• Coach parent Tapestry (TPR) dropped after warning that tariffs would significantly affect its outlook, despite quarterly earnings and revenue topping expectations.
• Oracle (ORCL) fell after Bloomberg reported job cuts in its cloud infrastructure division.
• Nike co-founder Phil Knight is donating $2 billion to the Oregon Health and Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute, the Knight Foundation announced Thursday.
• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed on Thursday that it has begun investing in UnitedHealth Group.
• Deere (DE) shares slid after cutting its full-year net income guidance, with the midpoint falling below analysts’ expectations. Third-quarter revenue and profit declined, but earnings topped estimates while revenue matched forecasts.
• com (JD) shares ticked up after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported a year-over-year net income decline of more than 50%, driven by new investments in China’s competitive food delivery market. Revenue totaled 356.66 billion yuan ($49.73 billion), surpassing analyst expectations.
• Dillard’s (DDS) climbed 4% pre-market after delivering earnings well above consensus and revenue in line with forecasts. Same-store sales rose 1% year over year.
• The Russell 2000® (RUT) advanced leading major indexes as small caps benefited from rate-cut optimism. Smaller companies, more reliant on borrowing and hit hard by tariffs, remain well below last fall’s highs.

What to Watch Ahead

Wall Street has its hopes up for rate cuts this fall, and will closely watch the monthly retail sales report Friday for a signal on how likely they are to happen.