Week of Aug 3: Best Since April

Solo desk brief covering the U.S. equity week of August 3–7, 2026: best weekly gains since April, record closes, the July jobs miss, and what CPI means for the Fed next.

All three notched their best week since April. The S&P closed above 7,700 for the first time earlier in the week and finished Friday at a fresh record.12

Hormuz and oil. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. and Iran could reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, helping push crude lower for the week (U.S. crude futures down more than 7%) and supporting equities and lower Treasury yields. Energy stocks lagged the broader market.13

Earnings and AI. Second-quarter results stayed strong beyond mega-cap tech. Amazon crossed a $3 trillion market cap on Monday after raising 2026 capex to $220 billion on AI demand. Nvidia rose more than 10% on the week after SpaceX named it exclusive partner for its AI buildout. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gained more than 7%. Software names bounced on earnings—Atlassian jumped about 35%, Cloudflare more than 5%—and Airbnb rallied roughly 17% after a beat and raised guidance.14

July jobs and the Fed. Nonfarm payrolls fell 23,000 versus a Dow Jones consensus for +83,000. Unemployment edged to 4.1%, but largely because participation fell to 61.4%—a multi-year low. Average hourly earnings rose just 3.2% year over year, the softest since May 2021. Markets pared September hike odds; the policy rate sits at 3.50%–3.75% after a 9–3 hold at the July FOMC.15

July CPI was the next big print after this week’s close—consensus pointed to a modest monthly rise with the annual headline near 3.4% and core near 2.5%. A soft reading would reinforce a longer Fed hold; a hot one would put September back in play. Watch oil and any concrete Hormuz deal language as well.6