NEW YORK — Updated 10:03 a.m. ET, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. U.S. stocks opened higher Tuesday, with technology and semiconductor shares leading a rebound from Monday’s selloff as investors positioned for Nvidia’s earnings and a major inflation report Wednesday.
At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 177.8 points, or 0.33%, to 53,594.92. The S&P 500 gained 23.8 points, or 0.31%, to 7,676.66, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 168.5 points, or 0.65%, to 26,148.71.
The latest index reading available shortly after the open, at 9:41 a.m. ET, showed the Dow up 75.49 points to 53,492.65, the S&P 500 up 29.05 points to 7,681.91, and the Nasdaq up 194.45 points to 26,174.64.
Chips Lead the Rebound
Technology was doing most of the heavy lifting. Nvidia rose 1.4%, Meta gained 0.9%, Intel climbed 3.1%, Micron advanced 3.9%, Western Digital gained 3.7%, and AMD jumped 3.4% after Raymond James upgraded the stock. Advancing stocks were outnumbering decliners on both the NYSE and Nasdaq.
Nvidia remains the biggest single catalyst hanging over the market. The company reports Wednesday afternoon, and options traders are pricing in a roughly 5.4% move in either direction — equivalent to about $280 billion of market value. Investors will be looking beyond the headline earnings numbers for evidence that spending on AI infrastructure, chips and data centers remains strong enough to justify the sector’s valuations.
The other major mover was decidedly negative. Dick’s Sporting Goods plunged 22.6% after cutting its full-year forecasts as weaker athletic-footwear demand and problems at its Foot Locker business weighed on results. Nike fell about 3.2% alongside it. Dick’s reported adjusted earnings of $3.53 a share on $5.59 billion in sales and lowered its annual sales outlook to $21.9 billion to $22.2 billion.
Morning Economic Reports Send a Mixed Housing Signal
The morning’s economic data showed home prices continuing to rise nationally, but at a relatively restrained pace.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said U.S. home prices increased 2.1% from a year earlier in the second quarter and 0.3% from the first quarter. The agency’s June index was unchanged from May. Prices rose year over year in 46 states and Washington, D.C.
Separately, the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rose 1.5% from a year earlier in June, accelerating modestly from May’s 1.2% increase. That still leaves home-price appreciation running well below broader inflation, limiting real gains for homeowners.
A more cautionary signal came from the Philadelphia Fed’s service-sector survey. Its index measuring firms’ own business activity fell sharply to -8.2 in August from +17.5 in July, meaning more firms reported declining activity than improving activity.
The 10:00 a.m. ET economic batch — Conference Board consumer confidence, July new-home sales and the Richmond Fed business surveys — had not yet populated with verified actual readings on their primary-source pages as of this 10:03 a.m. update. JBizNews is therefore not substituting forecasts for actual results. The Census Bureau confirms July new-home sales were scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m., while the Richmond Fed says its August surveys are released between 10:00 and 10:10 a.m.
Bonds and Oil Give Stocks Some Breathing Room
Treasury yields were easing early Tuesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield around 4.67%, removing some of the rate pressure that hit growth stocks Monday. U.S. crude was also sharply lower, trading around $82 a barrel, reducing immediate inflation concerns even as geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran remain elevated.
Boeing also entered the session with a major new defense headline after receiving an indefinite-delivery contract with a ceiling of roughly $131.2 billion covering F-15 production, upgrades, integration and sustainment work. The contract could stretch work on the program into the next decade.
What to Watch for the Rest of Tuesday
The first immediate test will be the delayed reaction to the 10 a.m. consumer-confidence, new-home-sales and Richmond Fed numbers as those reports become fully available. At 1 p.m. ET, the Treasury’s two-year note auction will provide another reading on investor demand for government debt and could move yields.
But Tuesday’s trading is likely to remain heavily influenced by what comes next. Wednesday brings Nvidia earnings along with the PCE inflation report and other major economic data, creating the potential for a significantly larger market move than Tuesday’s opening bounce. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech Friday then becomes the week’s major monetary-policy event, with investors looking for clues on whether the Fed is prepared to raise rates again. Markets are currently pricing roughly one additional 25-basis-point increase by year-end.
For now, the message from the opening tape is clear: Wall Street is buying back into technology, but investors are doing so immediately ahead of two potentially market-moving tests — Nvidia earnings and inflation.
JBizNews Desk | Wall Street
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