BlockBeats news, on August 8, U.S. stock markets closed strongly on Friday, with all three major indices rising; the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high, and the Nasdaq climbed over 1%. However, the storage sector underperformed, drawing market attention.
At the close, the S&P 500 rose 0.62%, setting a new all-time closing high; the Nasdaq advanced 1.3%; and the Dow Jones increased 0.28%. For the week, the Dow gained 2.96%, the Nasdaq rose 5.19%, and the S&P 500 climbed 3.58%, all posting their largest weekly gains since mid-April.
Major tech stocks rose broadly, with NVIDIA and Tesla up over 2%, and Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Meta closing slightly higher. SpaceX rose more than 15%, as the market viewed the absence of significant selling pressure following its first large-scale lock-up expiration as a positive sign, alongside improved long-term growth expectations.
Driven by rising precious metal prices, U.S. gold stocks surged collectively, with Kirkland Lake Gold rising over 11%, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold climbing more than 9%, and Newmont and Kinross Gold advancing over 7%. The optical communications sector also performed strongly, with Coherent rising over 13% and II-VI Incorporated climbing more than 9%.
In contrast to the broader market's rise, the storage sector generally declined. Seagate Technology fell over 4%, Western Digital, SanDisk, and SK Hynix ADRs dropped more than 3%, and Micron Technology fell 0.44%. Notably, Jefferies significantly lowered its 12-month price target for SanDisk from $3,000 to $1,750, while Citigroup reduced its target from $2,500 to $2,100.
The market rally was primarily driven by two factors. On one hand, the U.S. July non-farm payrolls data unexpectedly turned negative, weakening market expectations that the Federal Reserve would continue tightening policy in September. CME FedWatch data shows that the probability of an interest rate hike at the next Fed meeting has dropped to approximately 44%, below previous levels.
On the other hand, the U.S. earnings season has remained robust. To date, 436 companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings, with 85.1% exceeding analyst expectations—significantly above the long-term average.