The Nasdaq led Wall Street lower on Thursday, falling 0.7% to close at 29,300, as the relief from Wednesday's Treasury buyback proved short-lived and bond yields pushed straight back up.
The S&P 500 lost 0.87% to 7,641.16, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 703.84 points, or 1.32%, to 52,759.21.
Tech felt the squeeze hardest, and the reason is simple.
When bond yields rise, future company profits are worth less in today's money and the Nasdaq is packed with high-growth names whose value rests heavily on earnings expected years down the road.
So when the 10-year Treasury yield climbed back above where it sat before the buyback was announced, and the 30-year held around 5.24%, the tech-heavy index took the biggest hit. That marks another down day in a stretch that has knocked the market off the record highs set only last week.
The bond market, not earnings, is running the show right now. The Treasury's plan to at least double its buybacks of longer-dated debt lifted stocks for a single session before traders decided it does little to fix the deeper worries: heavy government borrowing, large deficits and sticky inflation.
Those concerns pulled yields and equities back the other way.
Walmart added to the pain. The retail giant sank about 9%, its worst day in more than four years, after softer-than-expected US sales and a cautious profit forecast.
Management said shoppers are making "trade-offs" as higher gas prices bite, a warning about the health of the consumer that dragged other retailers and defensive names down with it.
Oil kept the pressure on. West Texas Intermediate rose around 2.5% to about $86.50 a barrel, a fifth straight daily gain, after President Trump threatened a sweeping economic campaign against Iran. Tehran brushed the threat off as a "diversion." Higher oil feeds the same inflation fears that are keeping yields elevated.
The one bright spot was crypto. Bitcoin surged roughly 11.5% to about $71,809, cheering the extra dollar liquidity the buyback is expected to create.
Nasdaq 100 Technical Outlook
Nasdaq 100 (NQ) Four-Hour Chart, August 20, 2026
Source: TradingView
Nasdaq futures are in a swift corrective decline from recent highs above 30,200, currently consolidating near 29,317.
Price lost the 100-period MA (29,425), turning it into overhead resistance, and is now testing dynamic support at the 200-period MA (29,298).
The RSI sits near oversold territory at 31.02, registering a bullish pivot signal that hints at potential downside exhaustion.
Key Technical Levels:
- Support: 29,298 (200 MA). A clean breakdown below opens the door toward 28,800.
- Resistance: 29,425 (100 MA). Reclaiming this level is essential to halt current bearish momentum.
What's Next
Friday brings the S&P Global flash PMIs, an early read on business activity. But the week's real catalysts land next week, Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday, August 26, and new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's first Jackson Hole keynote on Friday, August 28.
Until then, the Nasdaq's direction likely stays tied to one thing: which way the 10-year yield breaks from here.
