The U.S. stock market showed strong upward momentum during Thursday afternoon trading on August 13, 2026, as investors reacted positively to cooling inflation data and a robust slate of corporate earnings. Technology and Artificial Intelligence sectors are leading the charge, driving significant gains in the major indexes as the market prices in a high probability of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in the coming month.<\/p>\n
As of mid-afternoon, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (QQQ<\/a>) is the standout performer, surging by 1.18%. This rally is largely fueled by renewed investor appetite for high-growth semiconductor and software companies. The S&P 500<\/a> (SPY<\/a>) is also enjoying a solid session, trading up 0.57%, as gains in technology and communication services offset weakness in the materials and energy sectors.<\/p>\n In contrast, the Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (DIA<\/a>) remains nearly flat, showing a marginal decline of 0.01%. The underperformance of the Dow is attributed to its heavier weighting in industrial and value-oriented stocks, which are seeing less rotation compared to growth names today. Meanwhile, small-cap stocks are seeing modest gains, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) rising 0.19%.<\/p>\n The afternoon session has been defined by a clear "risk-on" sentiment. The iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF (BAI<\/a>) is the top-performing thematic fund, jumping 2.12%, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) has climbed 1.82%. Communication Services (XLC<\/a>) and Technology (XLK<\/a>) are the leading S&P sectors, rising 1.37% and 1.14% respectively.<\/p>\n Conversely, defensive and commodity-linked sectors are under pressure. The VanEck Gold<\/a> Miners ETF (GDX<\/a>) has tumbled 3.53% as gold prices (GLD<\/a>) fell 1.32%. Energy (XLE<\/a>) is also slightly lower as oil prices<\/a> (USO<\/a>) dropped 1.65% during the session.<\/p>\n In individual stock news, Apple (AAPL<\/a>) has been a primary driver of market volume, trading up 0.7% at a price of $303.09. Micron<\/a> Technology (MU<\/a>) is also seeing heavy activity, holding steady with a 0.1% gain as the semiconductor industry benefits from positive sentiment.<\/p>\n The premarket<\/a> and early afternoon saw explosive moves in several smaller names. XChange TEC.INC (XHG<\/a>) skyrocketed by 523.5%, while FGI Industries Ltd. (FGI<\/a>) surged 79.6% on massive unusual volume. On the downside, Balchem Corporation (BCPC<\/a>) experienced a sharp decline of 86.6%.<\/p>\n In the aerospace sector, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX<\/a>), commonly known as SpaceX, saw its shares dip 1.7% in active trading.<\/p>\n Investors are looking ahead to a busy evening and the coming week for further direction. After the market close today, all eyes will be on Applied Materials Inc (AMAT<\/a>), which is expected to report its Q3 2026 results. With an estimated EPS of $3.40 and a massive $403 billion market cap, its report will be a bellwether for the semiconductor equipment industry. Nu Holdings Ltd. (NU<\/a>) is also scheduled to report after the bell.<\/p>\n Looking toward next week, the retail sector will take center stage. Home Depot (HD<\/a>) is set to report on Tuesday, August 18, followed by Target Corporation (TGT<\/a>), Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW<\/a>), and TJX Companies (TJX<\/a>) on Wednesday. These reports will provide critical insights into the health of the American consumer and the impact of current interest rate levels on discretionary spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The U.S. stock market showed strong upward momentum during Thursday afternoon trading on August 13, 2026, as investors reacted positively […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,6824],"tags":[95,225,633,828,3710,4223,4380],"class_list":["post-66481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-nasdaq","tag-aapl","tag-nvda","tag-amat","tag-federal-reserve","tag-inflation","tag-stock-market"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sector Highlights and Afternoon Activity<\/h2>\n
Major Stock News and Corporate Developments<\/h2>\n
Upcoming Market Events<\/h2>\n