Evening Market Recap

Sophia Reyes · September 8, 2025 5:10 PM

Market Snapshot for Monday September 8^th, 2025

S&P 500 – 6,495.15 (+0.21%)

Dow Jones – 45,514.95 (+0.25%)

NASDAQ – 21,798.70 (+0.45%)

Market Performance

U.S. stocks moved higher on Monday, as investors turned their focus to this week’s inflation data that could provide critical insight into the likelihood of a significant interest-rate cut next week.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the gains, closing at a new record high with a roughly 0.5% increase. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also added 0.2%, rebounding from last week’s modest declines.

Sluggish jobs data has markets increasingly pricing in an interest-rate cut, reflecting the Fed’s dual mandate of promoting full employment while maintaining price stability. Investors will now focus on Thursday’s inflation reports to see whether that expectation holds.

Economic Takeaways –

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that if the Supreme Court does not uphold several of President Trump’s tariffs—already challenged in court—rebates may be required. An appeals court has found most of the tariffs illegal, ruling that the president exceeded his authority.
• Mortgage rates have dropped steeply in recent days, hitting the lowest levels in nearly a year after a weak jobs reportboosted the odds of more or larger Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in the months ahead.
• Asian shares mostly rose with Japan’s benchmark jumping higher in Monday morning trading, despite the looming political uncertainty after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced last night he was stepping down as prime minister and head of his party.
• As of early Monday, odds of a 25-basis point rate cut at the Fed’s meeting next week were 88%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, and 12% that the Fed would deliver a 50-basis point cut.
• Canada shed 66,000 jobs in August, pushing its unemployment rate to 7.1% — the highest in nine years and a steeper loss than in the U.S.
• Chinese exports rose 4.4% year-over-year in August, hitting a six-month low and falling short of analysts’ average estimate of 5%, as U.S. tariffs weighed on demand; exports to the U.S. dropped 33% from a year ago, while imports from the U.S. declined 16%.
• Treasury yields continued to slip early Monday following weak U.S. jobs data, with Kathy Jones, Schwab’s chief fixed income strategist, noting that “with inflation elevated and fiscal deficits rising, there may not be much room for Treasury yields to fall much further, especially those with longer-term maturities.”

Gold –

• Gold hit a fresh record on Monday, extending gains after Friday’s unexpectedly weak US employment report that saw wagers increase on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.
• Gold surged past the $3,600 an ounce level for the first time on Monday, hitting a record high, as soft U.S. labor data reinforced expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.
• Spot gold rose 1.3% to $3,634.25 per ounce, as of 2:26 p.m. EDT (1826 GMT). Bullion hit a record high of $3,646.29.

Oil –

• Oil prices settled higher on Monday, recovering some of last week’s losses, after producer group OPEC+ opted for a modest output hike and investors priced in the possibility of more sanctions on Russian crude.
• OPEC+ flagged plans to further increase production from October, but the amount was less than some analysts had anticipated.
• Brent crude settled up 52 cents, or 0.79%, to $66.02 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 39 cents, or 0.63%, to $62.26 a barrel. Both benchmarks had risen more than $1 earlier in Monday’s session.

Crypto –

• Crypto users urged to take extreme care as NPM attack hits core JavaScript libraries. The breach hit core JavaScript libraries such as chalk and strip-ansi, downloaded billions of times each week, raising alarms over the security of open-source software.
• Cardano price has continued to hold above the $0.80 support level.
• Bitcoin climbed above $112,000.
• Eightco Holdings (OCTO) stock surged nearly 3,000% after the company announced plans to pursue a Worldcoin (WDC-USD) treasury strategy.

Bessent Steps Up Pressure on Fed as Trump Names Top Contenders to Replace Powell

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is intensifying scrutiny of the Federal Reserve as President Trump increasingly signals his top three picks to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

In a Sunday appearance on Meet the Press and a recent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Bessent leveled pointed critiques at the central bank, citing issues such as “mission creep,” “institutional bloat,” and a sluggish approach to interest-rate adjustments. He argues that the Fed’s slow response leaves it behind the curve, particularly as signs of labor market weakness begin to emerge.

Highlighting last Friday’s disappointing jobs report, Bessent said the data underscores Trump’s concerns: “President Trump was right about the Federal Reserve. They acted too late, and given these numbers, they likely would have needed to start cutting rates back in June.”

Americans’ Job-Finding Confidence Plummets to Record Low Amid Slowing Labor Market

Americans’ confidence in their ability to secure a new job after losing one has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade, according to a New York Fed survey released Monday.

The survey’s key measure dropped 5.8 percentage points to 44.9% in August, marking the lowest reading since the survey began in June 2013. At the same time, expectations that the U.S. unemployment rate will rise over the next year edged higher by nearly 2 points, reaching 39.1%.

The data highlights the growing impact of a slowing labor market. Last week’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) August jobs report showed only 22,000 new jobs added, far below economists’ forecasts. Revisions also indicate that over the past three months, the U.S. economy has averaged fewer than 30,000 new jobs per month.

The weakening job market has fueled expectations of an interest rate cut ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. According to CME’s FedWatch tool, investors now see a 100% probability of a rate reduction this month.

Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Warns U.S. Economy Running at ‘Stall Speed,’ Sees Need for Rate Cuts

The U.S. economy is operating at what Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius describes as “stall speed,” with growth sluggish enough that a few interest rate cuts may be needed to get it moving again.

“I think we are close to stall speed. Where exactly we are relative to stall speed, it’s hard to know,” Hatzius said during the firm’s annual Communacopia + Technology conference on Monday. He expects economic growth to remain “relatively slow” through the rest of 2025, before improving gradually in 2026 once the Federal Reserve implements rate cuts.

Top Gainers

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

Planet Labs PBC (PL) +47.93%

Globalstar, Inc. (GSAT) +21.49%

QuantumScape (QS) +21.05%

EchoStar Corp. (SATS) +19.91%

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) +15.83%

Top Losers

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

Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) -25.15%

Grupo Financier (GCAL) -23.57%

Banco Macro S.A. (BMA) -23.48%

Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. (TGS) -19.29%

Pampa Energia S.A. (PAM) -16.70%

Notables

• Intel (INTC) announced a series of high-level executive changes on Monday, including the departure of Michelle Holthaus, the company’s products chief.
• Eightco Holdings (OCTO) stock surged nearly 3,000% on Monday after the company announced plans to pursue a Worldcoin (WDC-USD) treasury strategy, making it the latest public company to flip its balance sheet into a warehouse for digital currencies.
• Robinhood (HOOD) surged to a record high, rising 15% after confirming it would join the S&P 500, providing a boost to investor sentiment. Tech stocks led overall gains, with Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) among the leaders lifting the “Magnificent Seven” Big Tech group.
• Bernstein analysts initiated Bullish (BLSH) with a marketperform rating, noting they will be more excited about the stock once the institutional crypto trading platform expands into the US market. The firm set a $60 price target.
• QuantumScape (QS) stock jumped more than 22% early Monday after a live demonstration of its solid-state lithium-metal batteries powering an electric Ducati motorcycle.
• US-listed shares of ASML (ASML) edged up 1.5% Monday after the Dutch company became Mistral AI’s top shareholder. Reuters reported Sunday that ASML was committing €1.3 billion, or $1.5 billion, to Mistral as part of its latest €1.7 billion funding round.
• Pittsburgh’s PNC Financial Services Group (PNC) said Monday it reached an agreement to acquire Colorado lender FirstBank for $4.1 billion, moving one of the largest regional banks in the US one step closer to becoming a coast-to-coast brand.
• Shares in Robinhood were up more than 8% Monday morning on the news that the company is soon to be included in the S&P 500.
• Elon Musk-led SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) has agreed to buy EchoStar (SATS) wireless spectrum licences for its Starlink satellite network, the companies said on Monday.
• Tesla (TSLA) rose more than 1% in premarket trading after its board asked shareholders to approve a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth up to $1 trillion over the next decade. Separately, data showed Tesla’s U.S. market share has fallen to its lowest level since 2017.
• MicroStrategy (MSTR) dipped 1% as Bitcoin (BTC-USD) slid to about $111,500 from above $113,000 on Friday. The company is one of the largest corporate holders of the cryptocurrency.
• AppLovin (APP) soared more than 9% in early trading after being added to the S&P 500 index, while Emcor Group (EME), an infrastructure firm, also climbed on its S&P 500 inclusion, as mutual funds that track the index typically buy shares of newly added companies, lifting their prices.
• Enphase Energy (ENPH), one of the stocks removed from the S&P 500 to make room for new entries, fell 1.3% in early trading.
• Nvidia (NVDA) edged higher in early trading after suffering losses last week when semiconductor competitor Broadcom reported earnings, though Nvidia has fallen six of the past seven sessions; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares also sagged Friday amid investor concerns that growing competition could impact the AI chip market.
• Broadcom (AVGO) climbed 1.3% early Monday after reporting AI revenue growth of 63% last quarter and providing guidance that impressed Wall Street.
• Kenvue (KVUE) rose almost 1% in early trading after falling 9.4% last Friday, following a report that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would link autism to Tylenol use during pregnancy.
• Telecom stocks fell in early trading, with Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS), and AT&T (T) dropping between 3% and 4%, while EchoStar (SATS) surged 24% after announcing a $17 billion cash-and-stock deal to sell its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX, a move that would allow SpaceX to expand its direct-to-device mobile service more independently, despite already having a partnership with T-Mobile.

What to Watch Ahead

Wall Street’s attention is now on key inflation reports due later this week: the Producer Price Index (PPI) on Wednesday and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Thursday. These reports are expected to provide fresh clarity on economic momentum following last month’s weak August jobs report and other signs of softness in the labor market, fueling questions about a potential recession.

Investors are particularly focused on how these data points might influence the Federal Reserve’s next moves. Market expectations now suggest a debate over the magnitude of a potential rate cut, with some predicting a larger 50-basis-point reduction—commonly referred to as a “catch-up” move—while the majority, roughly 88%, still expect a smaller 25-basis-point reduction.

Adding to the week’s economic focus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release revisions to earlier months’ jobs data on Tuesday, a closely watched update after last week’s report highlighted additional labor market weakness.