Markets

Market Pulse

Post-Close Edition · Thursday, August 20, 2026

Stocks fall across the board as the dollar slides and crypto rips Dow down 1.25% while XRP jumps 14% and oil gains 2.77%, money leaving equities for hard assets.


The Daily Digest

  1. 01Dow Jones down 1.25% leads a broad equity selloff
  2. 02Russell 2000 falls 1.34% as small caps take the hardest hit
  3. 03S&P 500 slips 0.84% and Nasdaq 100 loses 0.72% in a session with no buyers
  4. 04Healthcare drops 1.87%, the worst sector on the board
  5. 05Financials off 0.92% as long-end yields push higher
  6. 06XRP +14.44% to $1.25 leads a broad crypto melt-up
  7. 07Ethereum +9.05% to $2,319 and Bitcoin +5.96% to $72,725
  8. 08Crude oil up 2.77%, and energy is the only sector in the green at +0.27%
  9. 09Silver jumps 2.75% while gold adds just 0.34%, a sharp split in the metals
  10. 10TLT down 0.82% as long-dated Treasury yields climb
  11. 11Dollar Index down 0.59% to 98.82, EUR/USD up 0.66% to 1.1681

Top Movers

Gainers

XRPXRP+14.44%
ETHEthereum+9.05%
ADACardano+8.19%
BTCBitcoin+5.96%
SOLSolana+5.89%

Losers

XLVHealthcare-1.87%
RUTRussell 2000-1.34%
DJIDow Jones-1.25%
XLFFinancials-0.92%
SPXS&P 500-0.84%

What If?

If you had put $1,000 into XRP yesterday, you'd have $1,144.40 today.


The Big Picture

Money left US equities and went almost everywhere else. The Dow dropped 1.25%, the Russell 2000 1.34%, and the S&P 500 0.84%. Nothing in the tape looked like panic: the Fear and Greed Index sits at 52, dead neutral. The rotation is the story. The dollar fell 0.59% and long-dated Treasuries lost 0.82%, meaning investors sold both the currency and the government debt while buying hard assets. Crude gained 2.77%, silver 2.75%. Crypto went vertical, with XRP up 14.44% and Ethereum up 9.05%. Healthcare, down 1.87%, and financials, down 0.92%, took the damage. Watch the long end: rising yields with a falling dollar is the combination that usually keeps stocks under pressure.

Fear & Greed Index

52Neutral
0255075100

Market Overview

Indices
Dow Jones52,759.21-1.32%
S&P 5007,641.16-0.87%
Nasdaq 10029,213.16-0.72%
Russell 20002,992.43-1.34%
Crypto
Bitcoin74,853.00+8.15%
Ethereum2,346.09+4.27%
Solana88.99+5.44%
XRP1.30+19.12%
Cardano0.21+13.79%
Commodities
Gold4,600.00+0.63%
Silver69.14+1.51%
Crude Oil86.46-0.43%
Natural Gas2.75+0.59%
Bonds & Rates
2Y Treasury4.19%0.00%
10Y Treasury4.65%-1.27%
20Y Treasury5.17%-2.08%
Forex
EUR/USD1.17+0.13%
USD/JPY159.01-0.01%
GBP/USD1.36+0.08%
Dollar Index98.76-0.14%
Sectors
Technology183.10-0.29%
Energy63.75+0.27%
Healthcare172.39-1.87%
Utilities43.77-0.57%
Financials56.95-0.92%
Volatility
VIX16.01+7.52%