Weekly Market Performance — August 21, 2026

LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of August 17, 2026. Markets faced volatile trading this week as investor sentiment was pressured by a global slide in tech names and rising long-term bond yields driven by fiscal concerns and higher oil prices. U.S. stocks ended lower despite a late week rebound supported by stronger economic data and Treasury market support measures, while international equities also weakened.  Meanwhile, commodities advanced, led by another strong gain in crude oil prices amid the latest ramp in geopolitical tensions, while gold benefited from concerns surrounding government debt and fiscal sustainability. 

Stock Index Performance

S&P 500 Index Sectors

Fixed Income and Commodities

Source: LPL Research, Bloomberg 8/21/26 @ 2:39 p.m. ET
Disclosures: Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

U.S. and International Equities

U.S. Equities: Major averages ended a relatively wild week lower, but pared losses on Friday. Wall Street faced jittery trading as fiscal worries, bond market supply crowding, and Federal Reserve (Fed) credibility worries sapped risk appetite. The colliding factors drove longer-dated Treasury yields to multi-year (or in some cases, multi-decade) highs — spurring a global slide in tech shares due to their perception as long-duration growth assets and concerns around higher financing rates. Alphabet’s (GOOG/L) 7% rate on its long-dated Australian dollar bond sale did little to calm nerves, alongside another weekly rise in oil prices as ongoing uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz dampened sentiment. Stocks did feel some support, however, as yields fell mid-week after the Treasury announced boosted buyback plans on Wednesday (suggesting Treasury Secretary Bessent noted the yield backup), before ending the week on a positive note following strong business activity data for August.

On the earnings front, the calendar fell relatively quiet as reporting season winds down. But some mixed consumer takeaways were highlighted by markets with a relatively rare sales miss by Walmart (WMT) drawing the most attention.

International Equities: European stocks eased from last week’s record highs amid the longest losing streak of the year for the STOXX 600. Higher crude prices and Mideast uncertainty were again one of the main dynamics for the energy sensitive region. Strength in currencies also acted as a headwind. Tech shares led losses, although the region was relatively more insulated from global pressure on chipmakers this week, with strong gains in materials and the heavyweight healthcare sector also acting as a notable offset. However, stocks clawed back a slice of weekly losses Friday as better than expected business activity buoyed equities. 

Major Asian markets trended mostly lower this week following mid-week pressure. Higher yields and oil prices were the go-to macro excuses for regional weakness, although weak handoffs from New York dented tech shares and weighed on major averages. Japan faced some of the worst selling as 10-year Japanese government bond yields near multi-decade highs offset positive takeaways from export data. South Korea and Taiwan continued to face choppy trading but held up fairly well on buyback and investor return plans from SK Hynix and Samsung. On the other side of the coin, Hong Kong outperformed — extending its recent trend of outperformance during bouts volatility across the region — with additional support from policy hopes. 

Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodity Markets

Fixed Income: Core bonds, as measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate Index (Agg), traded lower on the week following wild swings over the last five days. The recent selloff in the Treasury market, particularly longer-maturity securities, is raising alarms about bond vigilantes, buyer strikes, or even concerns about a dysfunctional bond market. In our view, it is none of the above. Yet.  

The backup in long-end government yields is real, but we think this is a necessary normalization, not a crisis. The yield that has fueled multi-year and multi-decade highs has been driven by a familiar mix of heavy fiscal supply, AI-related corporate issuance competing for capital, and residual energy-price inflation risk. This is the market finally starting to price term premium again after years of suppression. And the fact that the same repricing is underway in Japan, Germany, France, and the U.K. tells us this is a global term premium story, not a verdict on U.S. creditworthiness. What keeps this from becoming disorderly is the underlying plumbing. Rate volatility remains remarkably subdued, inflation expectations are still well-behaved, and last week’s three-, 10-, and 30-year auctions were broadly well received. That is the mechanism we would expect in a normalization: higher yields recruit buyers. In a crisis, higher yields chase them away. 

With concerns of higher yields dominating Wall Street discussions this week, the Treasury Department’s decision to “at least” double the size of its long-end liquidity-support buybacks landed like a deliberate counterpunch against a market that had grown increasingly one-sided. While widely received as a measured response, the move signals that Secretary Bessent is clearly watching the back end of the curve and is prepared to push back, daring leveraged accounts to keep pressing short against a long end that Treasury has deemed increasingly important. 

Commodities and Currencies: The broader commodity complex tracked back-to-back weekly gains Friday afternoon. Crude oil futures remained at the epicenter of commodity market headlines, heading for a second consecutive 5%+ weekly advance after Washington ramped up its rhetoric toward Iran via economic isolation threats, leaving the two sides deadlocked in a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz. On a brighter note, the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicated crude inventories increased by 4.4 million barrels last week. In metals, gold posted a rally of its own on renewed fiscal sustainability angst following the unexpected Treasury buyback plans and the potential for more to come. Plus, some slight safe haven demand from rising currency and bond market volatility was supportive. Silver also advanced while copper edged lower. Outside of commodities, the U.S. Dollar Index dropped on fiscal worries while the euro and pound appreciated on improving macroeconomic data. 

Economic Weekly Roundup

A quiet summer week may be one of the easiest ways to describe the U.S. macro calendar this week. Although markets did digest some mixed takeaways from the latest batch of Fed meeting minutes. Market chatter debated if the meeting should be characterized as more hawkish or dovish after the minutes suggested that policy makers see a step-down in inflation ahead — but may favor a rate hike if cooling in price pressures does not arrive.  

Looking ahead, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of the U.S. summer driving season, making it a key test of whether elevated fuel costs have materially altered consumer travel patterns and gasoline demand. Crude oil prices remain sensitive to developments in the Middle East, with any disruption to shipping routes or energy infrastructure potentially amplifying price volatility heading into the fall. Watch Baker Hughes active rig counts to gauge production. If oil prices remain elevated through Labor Day, inflation expectations could begin to stabilize at higher levels, complicating the outlook for central bank policy and interest rates. The Fed’s next scheduled meeting is September 15-16 and includes an updated Summary of Economic Projections. Investors will be closely watching whether post-Labor Day energy demand softens enough to ease pressure on oil prices or whether geopolitical risks continue to dominate the supply-and-demand narrative. 

The Week Ahead

The following economic data is slated for the week ahead:  

• Monday: Chicago Fed National Activity Index (Jul) 
• Tuesday: ADP Weekly Employment Change (Aug 8), Philadelphia Fed Non-Manufacturing Activity (Aug), FHFA House Price Index (Jun and 2Q), S&P Case-Shiller 20-City and National Home Price Index (Jun), Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (Aug), New Home Sales (Jul), Richmond Fed Business Conditions (Aug), Conference Board Consumer Confidence report (Aug), Building Permits (Jul final)  
• Wednesday: MBA Mortgage Applications (Aug 21), Personal Income and Spending (Jul), Headline and Core PCE Price Index (Jul), Durable Goods Orders (Jul preliminary), Capital Goods Orders and Shipments (Jul preliminary), GDP (2Q second reading) 
• Thursday: Advance Goods Trade Balance (Jul), Retail Inventories (Jul), Wholesale Inventories (Jul preliminary), Initial Jobless Claims (Aug 22), Continuing Claims (Aug 15), Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity (Aug), Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium (Aug 27-29) 
• Friday: MNI Chicago PMI (Aug), Preliminary Benchmark Payrolls Revision (2026), University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report (Aug final), Kansas City Fed Services Activity (Aug)