Daily Market Snapshot: August 24, 2026

Brought to you by your local Edward Jones financial advisors. Monday 8/24/2026 a.m. Stocks slightly lower to start the week – Major equity indexes are modestly lower this morning, with technology stocks leading the decline ahead of NVIDIA's closely watched earnings report on Wednesday. Long-term Treasury yields are moving lower as bonds rebound from last week's sell-off, supported by reports that the Treasury Department could utilize its Treasury General Account to help fund buybacks and provide additional liquidity to the market. In commodities, WTI crude oil is down 1.7% to $85.50 per barrel ahead of Treasury Secretary Bessent's expected announcement of a new economic strategy targeting buyers and transporters of Iranian oil. On the trade front, U.S.-Canada negotiations broke down on Friday, triggering new U.S. tariffs of 50% on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods and prompting Canada to pledge dollar-for-dollar retaliatory measures beginning September 8. The developments weighed on the Canadian dollar, while gold climbed to its highest level in three months as investors sought safety amid rising geopolitical and trade uncertainty. Overall, markets appear to be balancing trade and geopolitical concerns against easing bond yields and anticipation surrounding NVIDIA's earnings, which could provide an important gauge of AI-related spending and broader market sentiment. Bond yields ease but remain near cycle highs - Bonds are getting some relief today following last week's sell-off, which prompted the Treasury Department to announce plans to increase buybacks of long-dated Treasuries in an effort to ease upward pressure on yields. Reports this morning indicate that Treasury Secretary Bessent is considering utilizing the roughly $950 billion Treasury General Account (TGA) to help finance expanded government bond buybacks, potentially providing additional support to the Treasury market without requiring Fed involvement. In our view, the Treasury's intervention underscores the administration's sensitivity to rising interest rates. While buybacks of Treasury securities with 10 to 30 years remaining to maturity may improve market liquidity and investor sentiment at the margin, we believe they are unlikely to offset the fundamental forces driving yields higher. In our view, those include persistent inflation concerns, geopolitically driven energy risks, uncertainty surrounding the Fed's policy path over the next several months, resilient economic growth fueled in part by heavy AI-related investment, and increased bond issuance from both the public and private sectors. Markets can withstand current yields; Jackson Hole is the next key test - Although higher yields remain a headwind for fixed income returns and equity valuations, we do not believe current levels represent a material threat to the economy, corporate earnings, or equity markets. The 10-year Treasury yield peaked near 5% in 2023 and has largely remained within a broad trading range since then, while still below the economy's roughly 6.5% nominal GDP growth rate. Meanwhile, equity valuations have already compressed this year, leaving earnings growth as the primary driver of market performance. As long as economic activity remains solid and profits continue to expand, higher yields are more likely to act as a valuation constraint than a catalyst for a broader market downturn, in our view. Looking ahead, investors will be closely watching for signals from the Fed's Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole symposium, where any clues on the policy outlook, or the Fed's tolerance for above-target inflation, could influence both bond yields and broader market sentiment. Important information: This is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as specific investment advice. 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