Friday, August 21, 2026 Opening bell

Yields and oil keep pressure on stocks

Overnight

US stocks fell hard on Thursday, with the Dow down 1.32% to 52,759.21, the S&P 500 down 0.87% to 7,641.16 and the Nasdaq down 1.00% to 26,067.17, as long term government borrowing costs pushed back up. Tokyo closed lower again on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 down about 0.3% to 66,165 after Japan reported core inflation of 1.8% for July, which strengthens the case for a Bank of Japan rate rise in September. Europe is close to flat this morning, though the Stoxx 600 is down 1.14% on the week, its worst since early July, with Brent crude at a one month high of $93.12 and the German 10 year Bund yield at 3.22%, its highest since 2011, while US futures point slightly higher.

What to watch

The main event is the US flash PMI at 9:45am Eastern, a monthly survey of purchasing managers at companies that gives the first read on how August activity went, where anything above 50 means the sector grew. The eurozone version already landed this morning and was better than expected, with the composite reading at 52.1 and manufacturing at 52.8, its strongest since May 2022, so a firm US number would reinforce the view that the economy is not slowing enough to bring bond yields down. BJ's Wholesale reports earnings before the open, and next week brings the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole gathering and Nvidia's results.