Secretary of War Hegseth needs more money for warCrude oil futures settle at $84.91Tension in the middle east intensifiesApple Reinvents the upgrade cycle. Stock price moves higherEuropean Stocks finish strong; Wall Street builds on the momentumTrump meets with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the White HouseCanada Carney: Latest tariff threat are a violation of USMCAUSTR Greer: Canada is giving other countries better trade dealsPres. Trump: Reportedly rejects proposal for a 10 day cease-fire with IranUS Treas Sec Bessent: Says 3% growth is not unreasonable.ADP weekly NER Pulse 16,500 vs 19,750 last weekThe USD is mixed vs the major currencies. In the kickstart video, I outline the key technical levels in playinvestingLive European FX news wrap: UK jobs beat, focus stays on Middle EastGerman ZEW survey shows pick up in recovery mood in July
The USD is ending the session mostly higher vs the major currencies. The one exception was the AUD where the greenback fell -0.11%. A look at the changes shows:
🇯🇵 Japanese Yen:-0.42% vs USD – The yen was the day’s weakest major currency, pushing USDJPY to a fresh 40-year high as rising U.S. Treasury yields and persistent policy divergence continued to favor the dollar. See post here.
🇨🇭 Swiss Franc:-0.37% vs USD – The dollar also posted a solid gain against the franc, extending its recent strength.
🇨🇦 Canadian Dollar:-0.26% vs USD – The greenback advanced against the loonie, as the markets react to the Trump tariffs on Canada.
🇦🇺 Australian Dollar:+0.11% vs USD – The Aussie outperformed the dollar modestly, with the USD slipping slightly. The pair did come off of highs that failed after breaking the 38.2% retracement target. See post here.
🇪🇺 Euro:-0.11% vs USD – The euro edged higher against the dollar in relatively quiet trading.
🇳🇿 New Zealand Dollar:-0.15% vs USD – The kiwi also gained modestly against the greenback.
🇬🇧 British Pound:-0.34% vs USD – Sterling was the strongest performer among the major currencies, posting the largest gain versus the dollar.
USDJPY extended its rally to a new 40-year high, driven by higher U.S. Treasury yields and the widening policy divergence between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. Technically, the pair remains firmly in the hands of the buyers after once again finding support near its rising trendline yesterday, and pushing above the prior July high at 162.833 (close support now). The breakout confirms the bullish bias, with momentum continuing to favor additional gains as long as the pair holds above the prior old high. The next key target is not until 164.50 area. While traders remain alert to the possibility of official Japanese intervention at these elevated levels, price action continues to show that buyers are in control and willing to buy dips.
The U.S. and Canada remain locked in an escalating trade dispute after the Trump administration announced a new 50% tariff on a broad range of Canadian imports, citing Canada’s trade policies on automobiles, dairy, alcohol, and earlier retaliatory measures. The tariffs, imposed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for the first time, are scheduled to take effect on August 19, providing a 30-day window for negotiations.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the new tariffs violate the spirit of the USMCA and warned that Canada is prepared to consider all options if the measures proceed. While Carney stressed he wants a comprehensive agreement covering all key sectors—not a partial deal—he also revealed that he and President Trump spoke and agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer emphasized that talks remain active despite the latest escalation, saying the administration’s goal is to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, encourage more manufacturing to return to the United States, and secure a trade agreement that delivers better outcomes for U.S. businesses.
U.S. Treasury yields moved higher across the curve, led by gains in shorter-dated maturities as investors continued to price in a higher-for-longer interest rate outlook and also helped by higher oil prices. The rise in yields helped support the U.S. dollar during the session, particularly against lower-yielding currencies such as the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.
2-Year Treasury:4.2636% (+4.86 bps)
5-Year Treasury:4.3712% (+4.12 bps)
10-Year Treasury:4.6301% (+3.24 bps)
30-Year Treasury:5.1333% (+1.53 bps)
U.S. stocks finished sharply higher, with all the major indices ending the day in positive territory as investors embraced risk and piled back into technology and artificial intelligence names. Small-cap stocks led the gains, while the NASDAQ outperformed as semiconductor stocks staged a strong rebound from recent weakness. The rally came despite another move higher in Treasury yields, underscoring investors’ continued appetite for AI and growth-related stocks. European shares also moved higher today.
Dow Jones: +386.04 points (+0.74%) to 52,230.23
S&P 500: +65.92 points (+0.89%) to 7,509.21
NASDAQ: +329.13 points (+1.29%) to 25,837.21
Russell 2000: +44.97 points (+1.53%) to 2,987.40
Chip and AI stocks were the clear leaders, with investors aggressively buying back into the sector after recent weakness.
Nebius Group (NBIS): +18.76%
Sandisk (SNDK): +14.27%
Micron (MU): +12.17%
Coherent (COHR): +11.15%
Lumentum (LITE): +9.41%
Intel (INTC): +8.64%
AMD: +8.11%
Arm Holdings (ARM): +7.46%
Applied Materials (AMAT): +7.39%
Marvell Technology (MRVL): +6.68%
Within the Dow 30, industrials, healthcare, financials, and technology stocks paced the gains.
3M (MMM): +7.33%
UnitedHealth (UNH): +3.51%
Caterpillar (CAT): +2.95%
Goldman Sachs (GS): +2.92%
NVIDIA (NVDA): +1.97%
The day’s weakest Dow components included:
Boeing (BA): -2.22%
Salesforce (CRM): -2.12%
Sherwin-Williams (SHW): -1.62%
Walmart (WMT): -1.61%
McDonald’s (MCD): -1.40%
Despite those pockets of weakness, broad-based buying across technology and cyclical sectors kept the major indices near their session highs into the close.
In other markets:
Crude oil moved higher by over 2%. Gold is also higher by $74 or 1.85% at $4083. Silver is up $2.21 for 3.9% at $58.68 and Bitcoin is up over $1000 and $66,352
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.