Among companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, NIO Inc. recorded the largest increase last week. The shares of this electric vehicle manufacturer increased by 31.81% in a week to $6.34 per share. Next is Dayforce Inc., operating in personnel software, with a growth of 30.86% to $69.20 per share. This top three is completed by Ubiquiti Inc., a manufacturer of networking equipment, with a growth of 26.67% to $510.23 per share.

The top three largest-cap companies with the biggest losses last week starts off with James Hardie Industries plc, a building materials company, whose shares fell 29.30% to $20.51 per share. Next was Symbotic Inc., a developer of warehouse automation solutions, down 12.06% to $46.23 per share. This top three is rounded out by Fabrinet, a manufacturer of electro-optical components, down 10.75% to $294.35 per share.

Stock prices rose late last week after US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell hinted at a possible reduction in the refinancing interest rate in September. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high, up 2.1% for the week. The S&P 500 closed up 1.2% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% as investors pulled money out of big tech companies and put it into cheaper stocks.

UBS Global Wealth Management raised its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 to 6,600 from 6,200; its second increase in two months. The firm has attributed this increase to solid quarterly earnings and easing trade tensions. About 80% of companies listed on the stock exchange have beaten earnings forecasts this season, largely driven by growth being driven by artificial intelligence.

US government bond yields fell sharply amid possible reduction in the refinancing interest rate. The 2-year-yield bond yield fell by almost 10 basis points to 3.69%, while that of the 10-year bonds fell by 6 basis points to 4.27%. Oil prices rose slightly, with Brent crude reaching $67.85 per barrel.

European stocks also rose to a five-year high after US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's statement. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, posting its third consecutive weekly gain.

Inflows into global stock funds fell sharply in the week ending on August 20, with only $2.27 billion invested in these stock funds, compared to $19.29 billion the previous week. Global bond funds remained in demand, recording a net inflow of $18.82 billion for the week.

The US government has agreed to buy a 10% stake in Intel in a bid to help the struggling company. The government will buy 433.3 million shares of Intel worth $8.9 billion. Intel shares rose 5.5% after this news broke.

On Monday, 1.2 billion drams of government bonds were placed on Armenia’s stock market, and they will be redeemed on March 2, 2026. The public auction had three participants, and the amount of bids submitted by them totaled 3.7 billion drams. The weighted average price of the placed government bonds was 96.0249 drams, and the yield was 7.9270 percent.

US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has hinted at a refinancing interest rate cut at the September 16-17 meeting. Powell highlighted rising risks in the labor market and said inflation remains a concern. He said they will remain cautious, and monitor future developments in the labor market and the pace of inflation.

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in the US rose by 11,000 to 235,000 last week; the largest increase in three months and indicating that the US labor market remained weak in August. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the country rose by 30,000 to 1.972 million; the highest in four years. Over the past three months, new jobs have increased by only 35,000. Experts attribute the low rate of new job openings by businesses to trade pressures.

Business activity in the US increased in August. The growth was led by the manufacturing sector, which recorded the biggest increase in orders in 18 months. The manufacturing PMI rose to 53.3 from 49.8 in July, mainly due to new orders, while the services sector fell slightly to 55.4.

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