Markets News, Aug. 17, 2026: US Stocks Start Week Lower, Oil Prices Rise; Memory Shares Outperform

Markets News, Aug. 17, 2026: US Stocks Start Week Lower, Oil Prices Rise; Memory Shares Outperform Aaron Rennie Mon, August 17, 2026 at 12:53 PM GMT+2 6 min read ^DJI ^GSPC ^IXIC WMT TGT The U. S.

dollar index traded at its lowest level since early June on Monday. Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images Major stock indexes closed lower across the board, while oil prices rose on pessimism a deal between the U.

S. and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be reached soon. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, benchmark S&P 500, and tech-focused Nasdaq Composite finished Monday down a respective 0.

5%, 0. 5%, and 0. 3%.

All indexes lost ground on Friday , though only the Dow finished the week lower, snapping a two-week winning streak. Stocks closed last week lower in part because the Census Bureau's reading of U. S.

retail sales data declined 0. 6% in July when economists expected a 0. 1% rise.

This week , investors will get further reads on how Americans are spending when major retailers—including Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Home Depot (HD)—hand in quarterly results. Those results "may offer some insight into whether last week's soft consumer data was a one-off or possibly something more significant," Chris Larkin, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley's Managing Director, Trading and Investing, said in written commentary. Crude oil futures rose Monday as a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the Middle Eastern nation would "be ready to make decisions and take action" should diplomacy with the U.

S. fail. WTI futures, the U.

S. benchmark, advanced 2. 4% to $84.

35 a barrel at 4 p. m. ET, while Brent futures, the international benchmark, were up 2.

4% to $90. 65. Bond yields rose alongside oil prices.

The 10-year Treasury yield , which influences interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was near 4. 73%, up three basis points from Friday's close, while the 30-year yield surged to 5. 31%, its highest level since 2007.

Every Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech firm closed in the red. Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) led the septet lower with respective declines of about 3. 5% and 3%.

Shares of Broadcom (AVGO), the world's sixth-most-valuable publicly traded company with a market capitalization of nearly $1. 9 trillion, ticked 0. 1% lower after dropping almost 6% in the last session to pace Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 decliners.

Memory stocks outperformed broader indexes, with the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) advancing more than 5% as components Sandisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC), SK Hynix (SKHY), Micron Technology (MU), and Seagate Technology (STX) rose roughly 2% to 9%. SpaceX (SPCX) shares, which closed 1% lower Friday and remain below the $150 opening price logged on IPO day two months ago, rebounded 4. 5%.

The U. S. dollar index , which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, declined 0.

1% to 99. 57. It had slipped to 99.

29, its lowest level since early June, on Monday morning. Story Continues Gold futures were 0. 9% higher at $4,475 an ounce.

Bitcoin traded at around $64,300, up from overnight lows around $62,700. AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 08:15 PM GMT Goldman Calls This Group of Stocks the 'Secret Outperformer' Goldman Sachs has great expectations for European stocks. The bank's analysts lifted their 12-month target for the European benchmark STOXX 600 index to 695 from 660, about 6% higher than Monday's close of 656.

41. They also raised their 2026 earnings growth forecast to 15% from 10% in a pair of recent notes to clients, calling the continent a "secret outperformer. "   Much of Europe's recent strength has been driven by the financial sector.

Total returns for European bank stocks have outperformed the Magnificent 7 since 2022, the bank noted, though the STOXX 600's 11% rise this year trails the S&P 500's 13%.   Foreign inflows have helped drive the strongest inflows into European equities in a decade (not counting 2021), the bank wrote, though "performance has been far more mixed than the market-narrative or most investors realise. " "Higher U.

S. starting valuations, the benefit of higher rates for European banks, and a shift in demand for infrastructure have benefited Europe's HALO stocks and other value-oriented , asset-heavy sectors. Moreover, we have seen a marked improvement in European ROE , which is second only to the U.

S. ," the bank wrote. (The "HALO" stands for "heavy assets, low obsolescence," and describes infrastructure-heavy businesses perceived as AI-proof.

) "With the returns and funding cost of AI being increasingly questioned, Europe's status as a market generating cash rather than spending it could be to its advantage, as we have seen this year. " – Kara Greenberg European stocks are seeing some of their strongest inflows in the past decade, according to Goldman Sachs. Credit: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 07:15 PM GMT Home Depot and Lowe's Report Earnings Soon.

Here's How Much Traders Expect the Stocks to Move Home Depot and Lowe's are set to report earnings on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, respectively, with traders anticipating sizable moves from the home-improvement retailers' stocks. Recent options pricing suggests traders see Home Depot (HD) shares swinging up to 4% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Monday afternoon's level around $337 could see the stock rally as high as $350, recovering some of its recent losses, or slip to $324.

Lowe's (LOW) stock is seen moving up to 5%, which could drive it as high as $225, or drag it below $205. Heading into the results, Home Depot shares are down about 2% for the year so far, while Lowe's has plunged 11%, amid some concerns that squeezed consumers could continue to put off big-ticket spending on renovations and appliances. Home Depot was also pressured last week after the company announced CEO Ted Decker is taking a temporary medical leave of absence.

Senior executive vice president Ann-Marie Campbell and CFO Richard McPhail are jointly assuming the CEO's duties until Decker returns. Home Depot and Lowe's are due to report earnings this week. Credit: Yuki Iwamura / Bloomberg / Getty Images, PATRICK T.

FALLON / Contributor / Getty Images Bank of America analysts recently wrote that they expect spending growth from professional contractors to outpace do-it-yourself home improvement projects, which they said could favor Home Depot, as it relies more on pro sales than Lowe's. The analysts also said both retailers are likely to have gotten a boost from tariff refunds, which could offset higher supply-chain costs. Read the full article here .

- Aaron McDade AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 06:52 PM GMT How Shipping Chokepoints Like Hormuz Could Strangle Economies Worldwide The U. S. economic outlook lately seems to revolve around the Strait of Hormuz, and other waterways around the world could be equally important in the future.

The restriction of shipping through the strait due to the Iran war has all but shut down traffic through a waterway that normally carried 20% of the world's crude oil supplies. The blockage has caused fuel prices to spike in the U. S.

and elsewhere, and economic metrics to swing up and down, along with the perceived chances that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen. In the years to come, other crucial waterways could similarly become household names and sway the fate of economies, according to an analysis by researchers at Oxford Economics. They estimated the risks to more than two dozen places similar to the Strait of Hormuz that are crucial to trade.

Ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz on August 10, 2026. Credit: Ali Saeedi / Getty Images "The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cost the global economy dearly," wrote Harry Murphy Cruise, head of economic research and global trade at Oxford. "But Hormuz is one of around 30 maritime chokepoints that control global trade.

Each chokepoint carries its own risk and potential flashpoints. " Read the full article here . - Diccon Hyatt AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 06:33 PM GMT Intuitive Machines Shares Continue Hot Streak Shares of Intuitive Machines have been on quite a tear over the past week.

Intuitive Machines (LUNR) shares are up 6. 5% Monday, extending recent gains, after the Houston-based space technology, infrastructure and services firm said it had "received an authorization to proceed from an undisclosed customer to begin work on a multi-satellite communications infrastructure program with an anticipated value of more than $600 million. " As part of the deal, Intuitive Machines said it "will leverage its satellite communications expertise and industry-leading IM 1300 satellite platform to design, manufacture, integrate, and support multiple spacecraft for a critical communications infrastructure mission.

" Including today's gains, shares of Intuitive Machines have risen about 28% over the past five sessions. They had been slightly negative for the year before this recent run. Intuitive Machines shares have soared 28% over the past five sessions.

Credit: Timon Schneider / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 06:00 PM GMT Berkshire Hathaway Boosted Its Alphabet Stake 83%—Buffett Said the Investment Was His Idea Warren Buffett may have stepped down as CEO in January, but Berkshire Hathaway has dramatically increased its bet on a stock that he began. Berkshire (BRK. A, BRK.

B) grew its stake in Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Google's parent company, by 83% in the second quarter, according to a 13F portfolio disclosure filed after the close Friday. The position—roughly 106 million shares worth about $37 billion—became Berkshire's third-largest stock holding, behind only Apple (AAPL) and American Express (AXP). "I initiated it," Buffett, now chairman , told CNBC last month when asked whose idea the Alphabet purchases were.

He added that new CEO Greg Abel has the last word. "We talk all the time, but he is the decider. " Much of the increase in Alphabet shares came from a $10 billion direct purchase, part of an $85 billion equity raise Alphabet completed in June to fund its AI infrastructure buildout.

Berkshire's stake is growing fast. It held about 18 million Alphabet shares when the position first surfaced in the third quarter of 2025. By June 30, it held nearly six times that.

- Peter Gratton Berkshire Hathaway first acquired a small stake in Google parent Alphabet in the third quarter of 2025. Credit: Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 05:31 PM GMT Nike Shares Hit 52-Week Low Nike stock has declined steadily for six months now. Nike (NKE) is the worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday, with shares down 4.

5%. The stock hit a 52-week low of $38. 86 and is down about 39% since the start of the year.

Shares hovered near the flat line for 2026 until the end of February but have been in the red since, as worries about the progress of CEO Elliott Hill's turnaround plan since he took over in late 2024 have weighed on the stock. The company did not appear to issue a press release or regulatory filing today. Nike shares hit a 52-week low today.

Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 04:42 PM GMT Nvidia Is Only Magnificent Seven Stock in Green Today The Nasdaq Composite may be slightly higher Monday, but most of the biggest stocks on the index are having a poor start to the week. Nvidia (NVDA) is the only one of the Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech firms to trade in positive territory today, with shares are up less than 1%. Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are leading the septet lower with respective declines of about 3.

5% and 2. 5%. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) is down more than 1%.

Meta Platforms is leading the Magnificent Seven stocks lower Monday. Credit: Patrick Pleul / picture alliance via Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 03:35 PM GMT Communication Services, Consumer Staples Sectors Lead S&P 500 Lower The S&P 500 is down about 0. 1% in late-morning trading Monday, with technology shares unable to fully counter broad-based declines.

Seven of the 11 sectors tracked by the benchmark index are in the red, with Communication Services and Consumer Staples down more than 1%, and Utilities and Real Estate down nearly 1%. The S&P 500 Information Technology Sector is up 0. 6% to lead gains.

Consumer Staples component Constellation Brands (STZ) is the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 with a 5% decline, while Information Technology component Sandisk (SNDK) leads gains at 10%. AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 02:48 PM GMT Constellation Brands Stock Drops as Berkshire Exits Stake After markets closed Friday, Berkshire Hathaway revealed in a regulatory filing that it had exited its position in Constellation Brands. Shares of the beer giant are sinking Monday morning.

Constellation Brands (STZ) is the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500, with shares down more than 5%, after Berkshire's Form 13F filing indicated it had sold its 632,890 shares of the Modelo maker that were worth nearly $95 million at the end of the prior quarter. With today's decline, Constellation Brands shares now are in negative territory for 2026. Shares of Modelo parent Constellation Brands were down 5% Monday morning.

Credit: Kevin Carter / Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 02:00 PM GMT Memory Stocks Lead Gains The AI trade is off to a strong start to the week as several hardware makers are among the market's top gainers. Shares of Sandisk (SNDK) were up 7% in early trading, while data storage rivals Western Digital (WDC), Micron Technology (MU), and Seagate Technology (STX) gained roughly 6%, 4, and 2%, respectively. All are components of the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM), which advanced 5% Other chipmakers also are in the green this morning, with Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Intel (INTC) up a respective 6.

5% and 1%, helping the broader iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rise 2%. While investors have been concerned about the possibility of an AI bubble, many are still betting on chip stocks, with high demand for their hardware boosting sales and profits to record highs in recent quarters. - Aaron McDade Sandisk is among several memory stocks rising Monday morning.

Credit: Omar Marques / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 01:04 PM GMT Harvard Has a New Biggest Stock Holding: SpaceX Harvard Management Company, the firm that manages the university's massive endowment, reported a new largest stock holding in its latest quarterly filing released after markets closed Friday. The new addition to the filing is SpaceX (SPCX), of which Harvard holds a stake of just under 13 million shares, valued at over $2. 2 billion at the time of the filing.

The rocket, AI, and connectivity company that went public in June received investments from a number of universities over its years as a private company, according to Bloomberg, with Harvard and others reporting the sizes of their stakes now that the company is public. SpaceX shares, which have gained 33% from the record low they hit two weeks ago, were little changed at $140 ahead of the opening bell. - Aaron McDade The campus of Harvard University viewed through a gate on March 30, 2026.

Harvard holds a roughly $2. 2 billion stake in SpaceX, according to a filing. AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 12:13 PM GMT L3Harris Replaces CEO After It 'Became Aware of Certain Conduct' L3Harris Technologies says it "became aware of certain conduct" by CEO Christopher Kubasik that was "not consistent with the values of the Company as outlined in its Code of Conduct.

" Now he's out, and the stock is slipping. Shares of L3Harris (LHX) are declining 2. 5% in premarket trading Monday after the defense contractor announced that Kubasik had stepped down and was being replaced by company executive Sam Mehta, effective immediately.

L3Harris said Kubasik's "conduct was unrelated to the Company's financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance. " The Melbourne, Fla. -based firm added that after an investigation, its board decided to enter into a separation agreement with its chief executive.

L3Harris announced Monday it had replaced CEO Chris Kubasik, seen here during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 10, 2026. "Chris has overseen significant transformation during his tenure at L3Harris, and he has built a strong team to carry the business forward," the firm said.

"However, our values guide the actions we take each day as The Trusted Disruptor and are at the center of everything we do. The Board and Chris have agreed that implementing our succession plan today is the right thing to do. We thank him for his service.

" L3Harris stock entered Monday down less than 1% this year. AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 11:40 AM GMT Bank of America Sees Bargains in These 16 Knocked-Down AI Stocks A pullback in the AI trade has created opportunities for bargain-hunting investors, according to analysts at Bank of America. The analysts in a recent note named 16 companies that—despite upward earnings revisions—have recently suffered more than 20% drawdowns from their 52-week highs, offering what they called "attractive medium-term upside.

" Though AI spending by America's biggest tech giants is seen peaking this year, according to the analysts, growth rates for the companies in their list "are expected to remain strong" into 2027. There have already been some signs of sentiment starting to shift back toward the AI trade. Chip stocks flirted with the start of a new bull market Thursday before sliding amid a broader pullback Friday .

Memory chip leader Micron Technology (MU) and chip equipment maker Lam Research (LRCX) were some of Bank of America's picks, as well as hard drive maker Seagate (STX). Though they've pulled back from their highs recently, all three remain among the S&P 500's top performers this year. Meta was one of 16 AI stocks highlighted by Bank of America.

Credit: Marcus Brandt / picture alliance / Getty Images Meta (META) made the list too, with BofA saying it believes the Street underappreciates the company's "ability to monetize its growing capacity assets" and its growing ad revenues. The social media giant is reportedly in talks to lease extra compute to Anthropic. Its shares are down roughly 10% year-to-date and have lost about a quarter of their value from their highs last August.

Read the full article here . - Kara Greenberg AUGUST 17, 2026 AT 10:53 AM GMT Stock Futures Mixed After S&P 500, Nasdaq Notch 3rd Straight Week of Gains Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0. 1%.

Credit: TradingView S&P 500 futures pointed up 0. 1%. Credit: TradingView Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.

5%.