US Markets Close 7 August 2026: S&P 500 Hits a Record 7,757.64 as Payrolls Shrink 23,000

S&P 500 close: 7,757.64 (+0.62%) Breadth: advancers led decliners 2.49 to 1 on the NYSE and 2.07 to 1 on the Nasdaq Sentiment: bullish

The S&P 500 closed at 7,757.64 on 7 August 2026, up 47.68 points or 0.62% for a record close, after a July payrolls report showed the US economy shed 23,000 jobs and cut the odds of a September Fed hike to about 44% from 55% a session earlier. TEAM.US rose 35.31% to $149.07, its largest daily percentage gain on record, after fourth-quarter revenue of $1.766 billion beat the $1.66 billion consensus and first-quarter guidance landed above estimates. Gold futures gained 2.37% to US$4,401.30 and the dollar index fell 0.33% to 99.60, both consistent with a labour market soft enough to push a Fed hike further out.

What moved the index

The S&P 500 gained 62 basis points on 7 August 2026, and four sector blocks account for roughly 56 of them.

• Technology: XLK.US +1.42%, worth roughly 48 bps at about a third of index weight. MCHP.US +13.89% (its best session in more than 15 months) and NOW.US +6.42% led, with CRM.US +3.20%, ORCL.US +2.47% and NVDA.US +2.27% behind them. MSFT.US closed +0.03%, AMD.US -1.21% and MU.US -0.44%, so the sector gain came from a narrow set of names rather than the whole group.
• Consumer discretionary: XLY.US +1.49%, worth roughly 16 bps at about 11% weight. ABNB.US +17.43% was the best performer in the index after second-quarter revenue of $3.61 billion beat the $3.58 billion consensus and the company lifted its 2026 revenue forecast. TSLA.US added 2.83%.
• Financials: XLF.US -0.36%, a drag of roughly 5 bps at about 13% weight. V.US fell 2.15%. Lower hike odds trim the forward net interest margin outlook that supported the group through July.
• Energy: XLE.US -1.13%, a drag of roughly 3 bps at about 3% weight. WTI slipped 0.27% to US$77.08 on reported progress toward an Iran peace deal. XOM.US closed -1.16%.

Health care (XLV.US +0.75%) and materials (XLB.US +1.32%) cover most of the remaining 6 bps. Communication services contributed almost nothing at +0.06%, held back by GOOGL.US -0.96%.

Session highlights

The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.30% to 26,690.62 on 7 August 2026, more than double the S&P 500 move, and index membership explains most of the gap.

• SPCX.US +15.83% to $133.11 was its best session since listing, a day after the first tranche of post-IPO share lockups expired. It joined the Nasdaq 100 on 7 July and is not S&P 500 eligible until at least mid-2027, so the move lands on one index and not the other.
• 436 S&P 500 companies had reported through Friday morning and 85.1% beat analyst expectations, against a 68% average since 1994 on LSEG data.
• Unemployment fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in June, but the decline came from workers leaving the labour force rather than from hiring. May and June payrolls were revised sharply lower.
• The Russell 2000 rose 1.10% to 3,034.49 and IWM.US 1.11%, tracking the rate move, while the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.66%.
• VIX closed at 14.90, down 1.65%. The S&P 500 set 9 new 52-week highs against a single new low, on volume of 16.94 billion shares versus a 17.56 billion 20-day average.

Weekly scoreboard

All three benchmarks posted their biggest weekly percentage gains since mid-April. The Nasdaq Composite rose 5.19%, the S&P 500 3.58% and the Dow 2.96%.

Sector scorecard

• Best: consumer discretionary (XLY.US +1.49%)
• Worst: energy (XLE.US -1.13%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 2.62 points
• Nine of eleven sector ETFs closed higher. Technology showed the widest internal spread, with MCHP.US +13.89% at one end and AMD.US -1.21% at the other.

Top movers

Earnings reactions

Thursday-evening results drove the widest moves in Friday cash trade on 7 August 2026. TEAM.US +35.31% and MCHP.US +13.89% both guided quarterly revenue above estimates. TWLO.US +24.89% posted record revenue of $1.50 billion and raised full-year guidance. TTD.US fell 21.90%, the worst performer in the index, after forecasting third-quarter revenue below expectations. SEZL.US fell 33.89% on the guidance rather than the quarter: second-quarter revenue reached $149.7 million, up 51.7%, before management flagged second-half growth slowing to roughly 30% and revenue yield normalising to 11.4%.

Gold miners moved with the metal rather than with results. GDX.US gained 7.11%, with BTG.US +22.98%, IAG.US +14.29% and AUGO.US +12.95%.

Notable announcements

• SPCX.US cleared the expiry of its first post-IPO lockup tranche, covering 911.5 million shares, and closed +15.83%.
• Under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh the central bank has issued little forward guidance, leaving CME FedWatch pricing to move on data alone. September hike odds have fallen from 67% a week ago to about 44%.
• ABNB.US lifted its 2026 revenue forecast alongside second-quarter earnings of $1.37 a share against $1.25 expected.

Next session catalysts (ET)

• Mon 10 Aug: DA Davidson Smallcap Conference and Stifel Biotech Summer Summit open a light macro calendar.
• Tue 11 Aug: Oppenheimer Technology, Internet and Communications Conference begins, running to 13 August.
• Wed 12 Aug 08:30: July CPI. Consensus is 3.4% year on year headline and 2.5% core, the next input into the September hike debate.
• Week of 10 Aug: earnings season thins out, with Super Micro Computer, CoreWeave and JD.com the main reports left.

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