S&P 500 ends the week +0.49% at 7,711.76 as software earnings outweigh a hawkish Jackson Hole
S&P 500 week close: 7,711.76 (+0.49%) Nasdaq Friday close: 26,402.42 (-0.52%) Sentiment: mixed
The week on Wall Street
The S&P 500 closed at 7,711.76 on Friday 28 August 2026, up 37.39 points or 0.49% across the five sessions, as an enterprise software earnings run outweighed a Friday repricing of Fed policy. Salesforce CRM.US gained 22.39% on the week after reporting Agentforce annualised revenue of $1.5 billion, up 240% year on year. Three other software names followed it higher: OKTA.US +23.01%, ESTC.US +16.26% and CRWD.US +13.78%. Core PCE landed in line at 0.2% month on month and 3.3% year on year. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh then used his Jackson Hole address on Friday to say the Committee still has work to do on inflation.
Three of the eleven S&P sectors finished the week higher and the cap-weighted index still rose. Communication Services added 1.43% and Technology 1.30%, enough to carry an index where Health Care fell 1.98% and Industrials 1.73%. The Russell 2000 lost 1.51% to 2,972.37 while the Dow gained 0.53% to 53,559.99, a 204 basis point spread between large and small caps in one week. The VIX ended at 14.43, down 4.63% over the five days, so small caps fell without a volatility bid behind them.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
- Communication Services +1.43% and Technology +1.30% were the only two sectors to clear 1% in the week to 28 August 2026
- Financials +1.08% was the third and final sector to finish higher; the other eight closed the week down
- Health Care -1.98%, Industrials -1.73% and Energy -1.51% were the three weakest, and Real Estate -1.33% sat just above them
- Dispersion between best and worst sector was 3.41 points, a narrow spread for a week that repriced the September FOMC
Top movers, week ending 28 August 2026
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ANF.US | +36.15% | Q2 adjusted EPS $4.17 against $1.98 consensus; FY profit outlook raised |
| NLST.US | +30.77% | ITC complaint filed 26 August against Micron, Supermicro, HPE and Lenovo over four DDR5 patents |
| OKTA.US | +23.01% | Q2 revenue $805 million, up 10.6%; FY27 revenue guidance lifted to $3.22 billion |
| CRM.US | +22.39% | Agentforce annualised revenue $1.5 billion, up 240%; FY27 revenue guide raised to $46.1 billion |
| GAP.US | +18.59% | Q2 EPS $0.52 against $0.50 consensus, with revenue of $3.65 billion below estimates |
| DKS.US | -26.27% | Q2 adjusted EPS $3.53 against $3.76 consensus; FY sales and operating profit outlook cut |
| AEHR.US | -20.56% | Semiconductor test equipment sold as a group: FORM.US -10.92%, ONTO.US -7.68%, TER.US -5.53% |
| BETA.US | -18.51% | eVTOL names marked down together, ACHR.US -8.73% and JOBY.US -7.30% |
| AXTI.US | -17.12% | China delayed germanium and indium phosphide export approvals; fell 11.3% on Monday 24 August |
| QBTS.US | -16.67% | Quantum sold as a category on higher front-end yields; RGTI.US -12.95%, IONQ.US -12.62% |
Retail split on its own results. ANF.US +36.15%, GAP.US +18.59% and URBN.US +9.23% all traded on raised or beaten numbers, while DKS.US -26.27% and BURL.US -16.40% fell on the two different disappointments: Dick's cut its full-year outlook on footwear promotions, and Burlington beat at $1.72 against $1.29 consensus but said it will put its entire $55 million tariff refund into lower shelf prices.
Friday US session
- S&P 500: 7,711.76 (-0.25%)
- Nasdaq: 26,402.42 (-0.52%)
- Dow: 53,559.99 (-0.02%)
- Russell 2000: 2,972.37 (-1.39%)
- VIX: 14.43 (-0.55%)
Warsh spoke at Jackson Hole on Friday morning and the front end moved first. The 2-year Treasury yield rose 11 basis points to 4.34%, its highest in a month, the 10-year added 5 basis points to 4.72% and the 30-year 1.6 basis points to 5.206%. CME-implied odds of a September rate rise went to 60% from 35% before the speech. Technology gave back 1.55% on the day even after leading the week, and the Russell 2000 fell 1.39%, four times the S&P 500 decline.
PayPal PYPL.US fell 12.71% on Friday to $53.66 after Stripe and Advent International abandoned their approach for the company, ending a bid that had carried the stock roughly 30% higher since it surfaced. Elastic ESTC.US ran the other way, up 19.31% on the session on Q1 FY2027 adjusted EPS of $0.70 against $0.58 consensus and revenue of $478.1 million, up 15% year on year.
Macro themes that played out
Core PCE for July printed at 0.2% month on month and 3.3% year on year, both matching expectations, and neither number moved the Fed debate on its own. Warsh moved it on Friday. This summer's readings, he said, do not show that underlying trends have meaningfully improved. The US 10-year finished the week at 4.720%, 1.8 basis points below the prior Friday, so the entire weekly move in the long end landed inside Friday's session and the four days before it had drifted the other way.
The US dollar index gained 0.89% to 99.68 over the five days, consistent with a market pricing a higher policy path. Earnings supplied the offset: 483 S&P 500 companies had reported Q2 by Friday with 86% above estimates, and the week's calendar was weighted toward software. CRM.US, OKTA.US, CRWD.US and ESTC.US all beat, with CrowdStrike posting net new annual recurring revenue of $332.8 million, $47.8 million above the midpoint of its own guidance.
The third theme was the gap between quoted large caps and everything below them. Long-duration and pre-profit groups took the yield move hardest, with quantum, space and eVTOL names down 7% to 19% on the week while the Nasdaq rose 0.85%.
Week ahead, Mon to Fri (ET)
- Mon 31 Aug: Chicago PMI at 9:45am ET, Dallas Fed Manufacturing at 10:30am ET
- Tue 1 Sep: ISM Manufacturing PMI for August and JOLTS job openings for July, both 10:00am ET, with July construction spending alongside
- Wed 2 Sep: ADP National Employment for August, July factory orders and the Fed Beige Book; Broadcom AVGO.US reports Q3 FY2026 after the close
- Thu 3 Sep: Weekly jobless claims at 8:30am ET, ISM Services PMI for August at 10:00am ET, July trade balance; Zscaler ZS.US and DocuSign DOCU.US report
- Fri 4 Sep: August employment report at 8:30am ET, covering nonfarm payrolls, the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings
- Tue 15 Sep to Wed 16 Sep: FOMC meets, with the decision and Summary of Economic Projections at 2:00pm ET on 16 September
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