NEW YORK, September 3, 2026, 16:12 (EDT) — The Nasdaq advanced 1.4% after comments from Waller indicated openness to a potential pause in interest rate increases.
- The Nasdaq Composite finished up 1.40% at 26,584.06.
- The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to around 4.76% after being at 4.79%.
- SPY declined 0.04% and QQQ dropped 0.08% during the last hour.
- The number of advancing stocks on the Nasdaq surpassed decliners by a ratio of 1.34 to 1.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.40% on Thursday, supported by a pullback in bond yields. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicated a potential pause on rate hikes in September. The index ended the session at 26,584.06, according to closing market data.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.06% and the Dow advanced 1.18%. Gains were led by rate-sensitive growth stocks. Small-cap stocks underperformed, indicating yield relief had a greater impact than a wide cyclical rally.
The S&P 500 began the session at 7,702.06, rising quickly before midday. The index reached a high close to 7,754 in the afternoon and finished trading at 7,747.61, up 81.01 points from Wednesday’s close.
S&P 500 climbed, then held most gains
Index level during the regular session. As of .
Source: Yahoo Finance intraday data. Values sampled at 09:30, each full hour and 16:00 EDT.
Trading was calmer in the final hour. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF eased 0.04% and Invesco QQQ dipped 0.08%. ETFs tracking the Dow and small-cap indexes recorded modest gains. The divergence indicates momentum slowed but did not erase earlier advances.
Session gain versus the final 60 minutes
ETF price change through the 16:00 EDT cash close.
Source: Yahoo Finance pages for SPY, QQQ, DIA and IWM. As of September 3, 2026, 16:00 EDT.
Market breadth showed modest positivity. At 16:02 EDT, 3,761 securities were higher while 2,802 fell. An additional 567 remained flat among the Nasdaq stock-screener universe.
Financial sector ETFs outperformed, rising 1.54%. Technology and consumer discretionary sectors posted gains as well. Meanwhile, energy, materials and staples declined, despite overall index advances.
Sector rotation favored financials and growth
Daily percentage change in selected S&P sector ETFs.
Source: Yahoo Finance closing data for the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund and peer sector ETFs. As of September 3, 2026, 16:00 EDT.
Waller provided the policy pivot point. Three-month core inflation slowed to 3.05% by July, compared with 4.76% in February. If improvement persists, he indicated he could favour keeping interest rates unchanged. “Give disinflation a chance,” Waller stated at a Reuters event. Federal Reserve
The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined to roughly 4.76% from 4.79%, while the two-year yield slid to 4.33% from 4.39%. Oil remained close to $91 per barrel, maintaining concerns around inflation risk.
Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ:MSFT advanced 2.68%. Meta Platforms Inc. NASDAQ:META climbed 3.01%. Nvidia Corporation NASDAQ:NVDA gained 1.80% following its agreement to acquire Hugging Face for $12.93 billion.
Earnings drove distinct market moves. Shares of Snowflake Inc. NYSE:SNOW surged 16.58%. Broadcom Inc. NASDAQ:AVGO declined 2.75%, and Tyson Foods Inc. NYSE:TSN slipped 7.25%.
The next test comes soon. The August jobs report is scheduled for release on Friday at 08:30 EDT. Data on August consumer prices is set to be published on September 11.
Risks: A robust payrolls report or higher-than-expected inflation may reignite expectations of rate hikes. Fresh increases in oil prices could push yields higher. Thursday’s late trading pause indicates traders are still reactive to such developments.
Related articles: Federal Reserve
