US Close, 26 August 2026: S&P 500 Flat at 7,675.70, ANF.US +35.67% on Raised Guidance
S&P 500 close: 7,675.70 (-0.02%) Breadth: 128 advancers / 121 decliners across the 250 largest US listings Sentiment: mixed
The S&P 500 closed at 7,675.70 on 26 August 2026, down 1.58 points or 0.02%, as a 0.61% technology gain and a 1.09% industrials gain cancelled a 1.00% health care decline ahead of Nvidia's report after the bell. ANF.US rose 35.67% to $147.75 after Abercrombie & Fitch raised full-year earnings guidance to a range of $13.10 to $13.60 a share from $10.20 to $11.00. July core PCE held at 3.3% year on year and the 10-year yield closed at 4.664%, up 2.5 basis points from Tuesday.
At a glance
- S&P 500: 7,675.70 (-0.02%, -1.58)
- Nasdaq Composite: 26,130.20 (-0.08%, -21.10)
- Dow Jones: 53,463.88 (-0.21%, -113.52)
- Russell 2000: 3,005.90 (-0.14%)
- VIX: 15.21 (-1.55%)
- US 10-year: 4.664% (up 2.5 basis points)
- US Dollar Index: 99.138 (+0.23%)
The index opened at 7,666.88, sank to 7,657.41 around midday, ran up to 7,690.73 in the last two hours and gave all of it back into the close. The full session range was 33 points, or 0.43%.
What moved the index
Sector contributions to the S&P 500, using sector ETF returns against approximate index weights. Weights vary by provider, so each figure is a rounded estimate.
| Driver | Move | Approx. contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Technology (XLK.US) | +0.61% | +22 bp |
| Industrials (XLI.US) | +1.09% | +8 bp |
| Health care (XLV.US) | -1.00% | -9 bp |
| Consumer discretionary (XLY.US) | -0.67% | -7 bp |
| Communication services (XLC.US) | -0.50% | -5 bp |
Each of those blocks is several times the size of the index's own 2 basis point move. Technology and industrials added roughly 30 basis points between them, and health care, consumer discretionary and communication services took back roughly 21. The other six sectors netted close to flat, energy +0.60% and utilities +0.46% against real estate -0.60% and consumer staples -0.29%. On a 2 basis point day the residual sits inside the error of the weighting method, so no single sector set the close. Breadth agrees: 128 of the 250 largest US listings rose, 121 fell.
Session highlights
- NVDA.US fell 1.59% to $209.66 into its own 4:20pm ET report, the heaviest index-weight drag of the session. The selling came before the release, not after it.
- LITE.US +6.04% and ANET.US +5.92% were the two best performers across the whole 250-name large-cap sweep, with TTMI.US +8.37%, CIEN.US +4.22% and COHR.US +2.16% alongside them.
- SMTC.US +10.41% to $140.80 on Tuesday night's second quarter. Semtech grew revenue 32.7% to $341.9 million, lifted data centre revenue 91% to a record $100 million on 800G demand, and guided the third quarter to $410 million against a consensus 14% lower.
- Gold miners were the weakest corner of the large-cap tape. WPM.US -4.70%, AEM.US -4.49% and AU.US -4.28% finished among the five worst of the 250 as GLD.US fell 1.58% and the dollar index added 0.23%.
- SNAP.US -8.45% to $5.42 after Pennsylvania filed suit against Snapchat. META.US closed +1.07% the same session, having settled a related class of claims for $16.7 billion.
- QBTS.US -9.51%, APLD.US -6.86%, IREN.US -6.23%, OKLO.US -6.03% and RGTI.US -5.90%. Quantum, nuclear and bitcoin-adjacent names came off together before the Nvidia print.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Industrials (+1.09%)
- Worst: Health care (-1.00%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 2.09 points
- Consumer discretionary fell 0.67% on a day PVH.US, AEO.US and GAP.US each rose more than 4.9%, because AMZN.US -0.30% and TSLA.US -1.26% carry more sector weight than every apparel name in it combined.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ANF.US | +35.67% | Q2 sales $1.27 billion, full-year EPS guide lifted to $13.10 to $13.60 |
| BHVN.US | +17.87% | $795 million SK Biopharmaceuticals licence for epilepsy candidate opakalim |
| BZ.US | +15.65% | Q2 revenue RMB 2.4 billion, up 14%, record 43.8% adjusted operating margin |
| SMTC.US | +10.41% | Data centre revenue up 91% to $100 million, Q3 guide 14% above consensus |
| URBN.US | +9.46% | Bid up with ANF.US ahead of its own 4:05pm ET report |
| GENB.US | -20.80% | Post-IPO lock-up expired 26 August |
| SYRE.US | -12.81% | SPY072 rheumatoid arthritis arm missed the internal effect threshold |
| DY.US | -11.62% | Q2 revenue $2.01 billion and EPS $5.29 beat, third-quarter EPS guide light |
| FIGR.US | -9.87% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven |
| QBTS.US | -9.51% | Quantum and nuclear names sold together, RGTI.US -5.90%, OKLO.US -6.03% |
After-hours earnings
Nvidia reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% year on year and above the $92.4 billion consensus, with adjusted earnings of $2.22 a share and a 75% gross margin. Third-quarter guidance came in at $108 billion plus or minus 2%, ahead of the $104.2 billion analysts carried, and gross margin was guided down to 74%. NVDA.US traded lower in the extended session despite beating on both revenue and the guide.
Urban Outfitters released fiscal second-quarter results at 4:05pm ET, after a session in which URBN.US had already added 9.46%. Options pricing into the print implied a move of 11.9% in either direction.
Notable announcements
- Eli Lilly discontinued three pipeline programmes: LY3884963, a gene therapy for frontotemporal dementia acquired in the $1.04 billion Prevail Therapeutics deal, the CD19 antibody LY3541860, and the radioligand 225Ac-PSMA-62. LLY.US closed down 3.59% at $1,189.41.
- BBWI.US +7.51%: Bath & Body Works earned $0.58 a diluted share against $0.30 a year earlier on net sales of $1.5 billion, down 2.3%, and raised full-year guidance to $3.13 to $3.33.
- Zoom beat on second-quarter revenue of $1.28 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.55, then guided third-quarter adjusted EPS to a range of $1.46 to $1.48. ZM.US -7.03%, its first full session since the report.
- Dycom posted second-quarter revenue of $2.01 billion, up 45.6%, adjusted EPS of $5.29 and a record $12.2 billion backlog, and still fell 11.62% on the third-quarter guide.
- Apparel retail moved together behind Abercrombie: PVH.US +5.35%, AEO.US +5.14%, GAP.US +4.96%. DKS.US +4.30% clawed back a slice of Tuesday's 30.68% drop.
Next session catalysts (ET)
- Thu 08:30: second-quarter GDP second estimate, consensus 6.6% against the 6.5% advance reading
- Thu 08:30: initial jobless claims, consensus 340,000 for the 21 August week against 348,000 prior
- Thu 08:30: second-quarter corporate profits
- Thu 10:30: EIA weekly natural gas storage
- Thu 11:00: Kansas City Fed manufacturing index, consensus unchanged at 30
- Thu after close: MRVL.US and DELL.US report
Context only, not financial advice. Track your own trades with Swingfolio.