Weekly Market Recap | Aug 17 – Aug 23

Analyst Highlights

Treasury yields remain a key market pressure: Bessent’s expanded bond buybacks briefly lowered yields, but the 10-year rebounded to 4.73% amid persistent fiscal concerns.
Crypto momentum strengthened sharply: Bitcoin gained more than 20% while spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.92 billion in weekly inflows, signaling renewed investor demand.
Precious metals benefited from dollar weakness: Gold and silver advanced as rising US deficits and currency-debasement concerns increased demand for alternative assets.
US equities faced broad selling pressure: Major indices ended lower, led by a 1.74% Nasdaq decline as investors reassessed valuations and the sustainability of AI-driven gains.
Geopolitical and trade risks remained elevated: US–Canada tariffs, Iran tensions and the Russia–Ukraine conflict continued to create uncertainty around trade, energy and inflation.
AI investment continues to accelerate: Anthropic’s rapid revenue growth, Broadcom’s planned financing and China’s semiconductor push highlight sustained capital flowing into AI infrastructure.

First Breach (FBDT, Nasdaq) — began trading August 20 with 70,728,866 shares listed at a reference price of $8.00 each.
Lyntris (LYNX, NYSE) — began trading August 19 after pricing 24 million shares at $17.50 each.
Karman Line Acquisition Corp. (XTERU, Nasdaq) — began trading August 18 after pricing 20 million shares at $10.00 each.
NorthStrive Acquisition Corp. I (NSAIU, Nasdaq) — began trading August 18 after pricing 10 million shares at $10.00 each.

S&P 500 closed at 7,674.37, falling 70.69 points, or 0.91%, for the week.
Russell 1000 closed at 4,186.44, falling 37.23 points, or 0.88%, for the week.
Russell 2000 closed at 3,017.87, falling 39.67 points, or 1.30%, for the week.
Russell 3000 closed at 4,371.54, falling 39.67 points, or 0.90%, for the week.
CBOE (VIX) closed at 15.13, falling 0.06 points, or 0.39%, for the week.
Dow Jones closed at 53,277.01, falling 182.77 points, or 0.34%, for the week.
Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,180.46, falling 464.45 points, or 1.74%, for the week.
Bitcoin closed at $77,755.27, rising $13,249.02, or 20.54%, for the week.
Ethereum closed at $2,463.82, rising $551.62, or 28.85%, for the week.
Solana closed at $95.44, rising $19.50, or 25.68%, for the week.
XRP closed at $1.5222, rising $0.5196, or 51.83%, for the week.
Gold closed at $4,624.10, rising $206.30, or 4.67%, for the week.
Silver closed at $69.47, rising $3.35, or 5.06%, for the week.
WTI Crude Oil closed at $87.06, rising $2.56, or 3.03%, for the week
Brent Crude Oil closed at $94.39, rising $3.52, or 3.87%, for the week.

Bessent’s Treasury buybacks briefly lowered long-term yields, but the 10-year yield rebounded to 4.73%, near his tenure’s high.
Gold and Bitcoin rallied as the dollar weakened, with rising US deficits reviving concerns over currency debasement and inflation.
Bitcoin surged toward $80,000 as Treasury buybacks lowered yields and weakened the dollar, though sustaining gains will require stronger underlying demand.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $1.92 billion, their strongest weekly inflow in 10 months, as Bitcoin surged 23%.
Anthropic expects its IPO to match or exceed SpaceX’s record size as it prepares for a potential public filing.
EU trade measures could cover 27% of Chinese exports to the bloc, threatening China’s market-share gains as restrictions tighten.
Iran’s rial hit a record low as US economic pressure intensified, while Tehran looked to China-aligned partners for trade support.

US–Canada trade tensions escalated as Washington imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods and Canada announced matching retaliation.
Trump intensified economic pressure on Iran to force a deal, while Tehran retained options for military retaliation across the Gulf.
China backed renewed diplomacy on Iran, hosting Iranian officials in Beijing as both sides signaled support for negotiations amid escalating regional tensions.
Zelenskyy said Putin rejected a proposed Black Sea shipping truce, with Russia seeking energy-strike guarantees in exchange for protecting grain routes.
Xi planned to skip the UN General Assembly and instead meet Trump in the US on September 24.
US, Japan and South Korea coordinated after North Korea launched short-range ballistic missiles, urging Pyongyang to halt regional provocations.
Norway planned to maintain Ukraine aid at about $9 billion in 2027, with most funding directed toward military support.
Trump renewed pressure on the Fed for rate cuts and revived efforts to remove Governor Lisa Cook, intensifying concerns over central-bank independence.

Anthropic’s annualized revenue topped $65 billion, strengthening its IPO prospects as the AI company prepared for a possible fall market debut.
Broadcom is seeking more than $60 billion in debt financing to expand AI chip access for Anthropic and other companies.
Chinese investment in humanoid robotics topped $14.8 billion this year, as China seeks an early lead over US rivals in physical AI.
Xiaomi launched its 3nm Xring O3 chip, strengthening in-house semiconductor capabilities and increasing pressure on Qualcomm and MediaTek.
YMTC moved closer to a public listing as China’s third-largest flash memory supplier seeks capital to expand capacity and support chip self-sufficiency.

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