S&P 500 ends week +3.58% at a record after July payrolls fall 23,000
S&P 500 week close: 7,757.64 (+3.58%) Nasdaq Friday close: 26,690.62 (+1.30%) Sentiment: bullish
The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,757.64 on 7 August 2026, up 267.92 points or 3.58% for the week and its strongest five sessions since April, after a July payrolls decline of 23,000 cut the odds of a September Fed hike to 44%. VOYG.US led the whole exchange at +70.61% on second-quarter record revenue of $52.7 million and a raised full-year forecast of $275 million to $305 million. The US 10-year yield eased from 4.745% to 4.660% across the week while the Nasdaq's +5.19% outpaced the Dow's +2.96%.
The week on Wall Street
The Nasdaq Composite gained 1,316.77 points or 5.19% in the week to 7 August 2026, closing at 26,690.62 and leading the three major US indices. PLTR.US reported second-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion on 3 August, up 93% year over year and 149% in US commercial, and rose 29.5% the following session. Optical and compound-semiconductor suppliers followed, with AXTI.US +46.58%, COHR.US +44.22% and AAOI.US +43.80% for the week, and technology finished +7.20%.
The Russell 2000 added 3.52% over the five sessions and 1.10% on Friday alone, while the VIX finished at 14.90, down 6.82% for the week. Eight of the eleven S&P 500 sectors finished the week higher, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% even as the payroll count turned negative.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
- Technology +7.20%, the best of the eleven S&P 500 sectors and double the index return
- Materials +4.82%, second, tracking gold's move from $4,049.10 to $4,340.70 an ounce
- Energy -3.44%, the weakest sector, as WTI crude fell 7.67% from $84.67 to $78.18
- Utilities -1.67% and real estate -0.20% were the only other sectors to finish lower
- Dispersion between best and worst sector: 10.64 points
Top movers, week ending 7 August 2026
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| VOYG.US | +70.61% | Q2 record revenue $52.7m, backlog $336m, FY26 guidance raised |
| RDW.US | +57.66% | Q2 revenue $117.1m beat $107.7m, record backlog $542.1m |
| IOVA.US | +55.77% | Q2 revenue $99.3m against $87.8m consensus on Amtagvi uptake |
| LIFE.US | +54.80% | Q2 revenue +113% to $190m, FY26 guidance lifted to $727m |
| TEAM.US | +47.57% | Q4 revenue $1.77bn beat, cloud +31%, RPO +44% to $4.8bn |
| BLLN.US | -32.62% | Held FY26 guidance, implying H2 growth of 29% after 74% in H1 |
| UWMC.US | -29.67% | Q2 net loss $451.9m, dividend suspended for a $2.05bn Oaktree deal |
| SEZL.US | -23.74% | Guided H2 revenue growth down to 30%, yield normalising to 11.4% |
| TTD.US | -23.50% | Q2 revenue +3% missed, Q3 guidance implies a 12% decline |
| CIFR.US | -23.03% | Q2 revenue -43% to $24.8m, EBITDA swung to a $30.0m loss |
All ten reported quarterly results between 3 and 7 August. BLLN.US grew second-quarter revenue 64% to $109.4 million and still fell 32.62%, because holding full-year guidance of $450 million to $465 million implied second-half growth of 29% to 38% after 74% in the first half. SEZL.US grew revenue 51.7% to $149.7 million and fell 23.74% on a second-half growth guide of roughly 30%.
Friday US session
- S&P 500: 7,757.64 (+0.62%)
- Nasdaq: 26,690.62 (+1.30%)
- Dow: 54,036.93 (+0.28%)
- VIX: 14.90 (-1.65%)
- Russell 2000: 3,034.49 (+1.10%)
TEAM.US closed Friday at $149.07 after fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $1.77 billion beat the $1.66 billion consensus, with cloud revenue accelerating to 31% growth and remaining performance obligations up 44% to $4.8 billion. TTD.US closed at $13.80, a seven-year low, after Thursday-night results showed 3% revenue growth and third-quarter guidance implying a 12% decline, announced alongside the replacement of its chief financial officer, chief marketing officer and commercial chief. WTI crude settled at $78.18, about 1% higher on the day but 7.67% lower for the week, after Iran and Oman ended Friday without an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Macro themes that played out
The July employment report released on 7 August 2026 showed nonfarm payrolls fell 23,000, with May and June revised down by a combined 103,000. Local government education shed 50,000 positions and retail trade lost 19,000, while private payrolls rose 30,000. Traders cut the probability of a September Fed hike to 44%, the two-year Treasury yield fell to 4.193% and the 10-year finished at 4.660% against 4.745% a week earlier.
More than 85% of S&P 500 companies reporting second-quarter results have come in above consensus. Every one of the week's ten largest movers reported inside the window, which is why single-name dispersion ran so much wider than the 3.58% index gain.
Gold rose 7.20% to $4,340.70 an ounce while the dollar index slipped 0.20% to 99.604. Gold miners filled much of the exchange's top 25 weekly gainers, with HYMC.US +35.89%, AUGO.US +35.84%, PPTA.US +34.27% and BTG.US +34.13%, which is what carried materials to second place at +4.82%.
Week ahead, Mon to Fri (ET)
- Mon 10 Aug Employment Trends for July at 10:00am ET
- Tue 11 Aug NFIB Small Business Optimism for July at 6:00am ET, existing home sales for July at 10:00am ET, and a $58 billion 3-year note auction at 1:00pm ET
- Wed 12 Aug July CPI headline and core at 8:30am ET, Cleveland Fed CPI at 11:00am ET, a $39 billion 10-year note auction at 1:00pm ET, and the July federal budget at 2:00pm ET
- Thu 13 Aug July PPI and weekly jobless claims at 8:30am ET, a $22 billion 30-year bond auction at 1:00pm ET, and AMAT.US reporting after the close
- Fri 14 Aug July retail sales at 8:30am ET, University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment and inflation expectations at 10:00am ET
Wednesday's CPI is the first inflation reading since the payroll miss, and the 10-year and 30-year auctions on Wednesday and Thursday follow an 8 basis point weekly decline in the 10-year yield.
Context only, not financial advice. Track your own trades with Swingfolio.