Markets
Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa
8/4/25

S&P 500 shakes off worst day since May with best day since May

All of Friday’s worries were seemingly washed away over the weekend, with the S&P 500 posting a 1.5% gain in a widespread rally. The Nasdaq 100 gained 1.9% and the Russell 2000 led the way with a 2.1% advance, with the small-cap index the lone one of the trio to completely erase Friday’s drop.

The benchmark US stock index rebounded from its worst day since May with its best day since May, and 10 of 11 sector ETFs finished higher on the session. Energy was the only holdout, while tech and communication services delivered the most upside.

Gains on the day were led by Idexx Technologies, which jumped 27% after the veterinary lab equipment maker reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and revenue. On Semiconductor led S&P 500 decliners, falling 15.6% after the chipmaker met Q2 estimates but saw weak sales in its two largest business units: automative and industrial.

Tesla shares rose 2.2% after the company’s board approved an “interim” stock award of 96 million shares for CEO Elon Musk, valued at nearly $30 billion at Tesla’s Friday closing price.

Joby Aviation shares jumped nearly 19% after the air taxi company said it plans to acquire the helicopter ride-share business of rival Blade Air for up to $125 million.

Opendoor Technologies shares surged 17% after the online real estate company announced after the close on Friday that it won’t pursue a reverse stock split.

Wayfair shares jumped double digits after the online home retailer delivered a massive Q2 earnings beat and its best revenue growth, even amid a shaky housing market.

Trump Media & Technology Group rose as much as 2% in premarket trading before closing modestly lower after the owner of Truth Social and a swath of crypto assets unexpectedly dropped Q2 results Friday evening.

Outside of earnings…

American Eagle shares soared almost 24% after President Donald Trump praised the retailer’s hotly discussed new marketing campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney.

Spotify jumped 5% after the music streaming giant announced another round of premium subscription price hikes as the company tries to cue up more profits.

Nio shares fell 8% as fierce competition squeezed China’s EV market, with the electric automaker reporting a month-over-month drop in July sales.

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Chinese EV maker Nio sinks as a surge of orders for its new SUV create a 6-month backlog

Shares of Nio are falling Monday on the bittersweet news that its latest SUV (the ES8, priced to compete with Tesla’s Model Y) is too popular.

According to Chinese media reports, up to 50,000 ES8 orders may have been placed in the vehicle’s first 36 hours, surpassing Nio’s 40,000-vehicle production cap for this year.

Customers now ordering the ES8 won’t receive their vehicle for 24 to 26 weeks, or six months.

Nio CEO William Li said that the ES8’s production capacity will reach 15,000 units by December.

Customers now ordering the ES8 won’t receive their vehicle for 24 to 26 weeks, or six months.

Nio CEO William Li said that the ES8’s production capacity will reach 15,000 units by December.

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US toys with making the world’s worst investment

Argentinian government bonds are up big today on reports that the US is considering some sort of a bailout for the chronically messy Latin American economy currently led by Trump-allied right-wing populist Javier Millei.

The country’s foreign minister knocked down previous reports that Argentina was negotiating a $30 billion loan with the US.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just came out saying that “all options” are being considered to stabilize the country’s currency, which plunged as Millei’s attempt to radically remake the economy with deep spending and tax cuts has shown signs of sputtering amid a series of government corruption scandals. Bessent even went so far as to say Argentina is a “systemically important” US ally, using a term of art that’s often bandied about when bailouts are in the offing.

For the record, lending Argentina US taxpayer money seems a bad idea.

The country has defaulted on foreign loans nine times, giving it one of the world’s worst credit histories. In fact, it’s defaulted three times since 2000, including in 2019, after the last attempt to “reform” the country lured in foreign lenders once again.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just came out saying that “all options” are being considered to stabilize the country’s currency, which plunged as Millei’s attempt to radically remake the economy with deep spending and tax cuts has shown signs of sputtering amid a series of government corruption scandals. Bessent even went so far as to say Argentina is a “systemically important” US ally, using a term of art that’s often bandied about when bailouts are in the offing.

For the record, lending Argentina US taxpayer money seems a bad idea.

The country has defaulted on foreign loans nine times, giving it one of the world’s worst credit histories. In fact, it’s defaulted three times since 2000, including in 2019, after the last attempt to “reform” the country lured in foreign lenders once again.

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