Today At A Glance:

U.S. stocks finished mixed near record territory: the Nasdaq rose while the S&P 500 was nearly flat and the Dow slipped. Traders largely held their positions into next week’s Fed decision; markets continue to price a rate cut as yields and the dollar ticked higher late in the day. For the week, all three major indexes posted gains, capping the best week in five. Standout movers included Warner Bros. Discovery (takeover chatter), IonQ (U.K. approval for Oxford Ionics deal), and Tesla (rate-sensitive auto optimism). On the downside, Opendoor (post-spike pullback), Moderna (negative vaccine headlines), and RH (soft outlook) weighed on pockets of the tape.

Today’s Index Performance

• Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) — The Dow opened today at 46,077.14 and closed today at 45,834.22, a −0.53% move from the open.
• S&P 500 (^GSPC) — The S&P 500 opened today at 6,590.66 and closed today at 6,584.29, a −0.10% move from the open.
• Nasdaq Composite — The Nasdaq opened today at 22,078.63 and closed today at 22,141.10, a +0.28% move from the open.

Gainers Of Note

• Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) – Media & streaming; +~19% as takeover speculation with Paramount Skydance kept merger hopes elevated.
• IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) – Quantum computing; +~18% after securing U.K. approval for its acquisition of Oxford Ionics.
• Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) – EV maker; +~7% as lower-rate expectations supported demand/financing sentiment.

Losers Of Note

• Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ: OPEN) – iBuyer real-estate platform; −~12% as shares cooled after a prior-day surge.
• Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) – Vaccines/biotech; −~7% following negative headlines that pressured sentiment.
• RH (NYSE: RH) – Luxury home furnishings; −~5% after earnings and guidance disappointed.

Active Traders Of Note

• Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) – Cloud & AI infrastructure; heavy volume persisted after blockbuster AI-cloud contract updates and an outsized backlog outlook earlier in the week.
• Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) – Memory chips; actively traded on upbeat analyst commentary and AI-related tailwinds.
• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) – Software & cloud; brisk flows amid reporting on an OpenAI restructuring agreement that stoked AI infrastructure optimism.

Looking Forward:

With indexes hovering near highs, the Fed meeting next week is the key catalyst; a 25 bp cut remains the base case, with a smaller chance of a larger first move. Expect AI-linked names and media/telecom to stay volatile as deal chatter and capex narratives dominate headlines. Flows have turned choppier beneath the surface (equity-fund outflows vs. tech sector inflows), so leadership breadth is a watch-item into mid-September.

Note: The stock performance summaries are based on general trends observed over the past ten trading days and are not indicative of future results.

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