Stock Market Recap: August Ends Green
Just when it looked like August would end on a high note, stocks ran out of steam in the last leg. The major indexes closed lower on Friday, but the monthly performance wasn’t bad at all.
Monthly wrap:
- S&P 500 ($SPX): +1.91% (fourth straight monthly gain)
- Nasdaq Composite ($COMPQ): +1.58% (fifth consecutive winning month)
- Dow Industrials ($INDU): +3.20% (fourth straight)
From a seasonal angle, August usually underwhelms. Over the last 20 years, the S&P 500's average August return is about +0.20%, so this year’s +1.91% cleared the average by a mile.
Here's the big picture: The uptrend in the major indexes is still in play.
Friday’s selloff could be some pre-Labor Day profit-taking, or a sign of a little rotation. On your StockCharts Dashboard’s Sector Summary, six of the 11 S&P sectors finished in the green. Health Care and Consumer Staples led, while Consumer Discretionary and Technology lagged.
Earlier in the week, small-cap stocks gained traction as the market priced in a potential September Fed rate cut. That gave a lift to bank stocks, homebuilders, industrials, and other rate-sensitive groups. Will investors keep trimming Tech and add to those other asset groups? This is something to watch as we head into September, another seasonally weak month.
Our articles and videos dig into where the money’s moving. Explore small caps, big banks, consumer names, precious metals, and Bitcoin. Plus, know what to watch if mega-cap tech stocks reclaim the driver’s seat. And the nice thing is you’ve got an extra day to browse it all.
Enjoy the long weekend.
