Gold Jumps 4%, Dow Jones Smashes Record Highs: Stock Market Today

Gold ripped 4% higher to $4,233.89 an ounce on Wednesday, its biggest one-day advance since February, as a soft private payrolls report and easing energy costs knocked down the odds of another Federal Reserve rate hike.

ADP said private employers added just 44,000 jobs in July, the weakest in six months and well below the 70,000 consensus, while the ISM Services PMI came in at 54.1 versus 54.5 expected, with its employment sub-index sliding back into contraction at 47.4.

Silver rallied 3.9% to $61.85 an ounce, a six-week peak, though it remains down 13.2% in 2026.

U.S. equity indices were little moved in midday trading, with cyclical value leading and megacap growth lagging.

The S&P 500 hovered at 7,739, essentially unchanged and clinging to record territory, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 459 points, or 0.9%, to 54,545.

Over the last five sessions, the Dow has gained 5.8%, the best 5-day jump since April 2025.

Since the start of the year, the blue-chip index has risen 13.3%, slightly outperforming the S&P 500.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4% to 29,627.

Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) was the standout decliner, sinking 4.2% to $361.67 after reports that Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis is stepping back into a chair role and chief scientist Jeff Dean is leaving after 27 years to launch his own AI startup.

Treasurys were little changed.

The 10-year yield hovered near 4.62%, holding a third-session retreat from Monday’s 18-month high of 4.75%.

The 2-year sat at 4.22% and the 30-year at 5.18%, leaving the curve sharply steeper than before the Fed’s July hold.

Markets now await Friday’s nonfarm payrolls, where economists expect 80,000 jobs.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices Index Last % Change S&P 500 7,739.44 +0.04% Dow Jones 54,545 +0.85% Nasdaq 100 29,627 -0.36% Russell 2000 3,023 -0.45% Updated by 12:25 PM ET According to the Pro platform: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO ) was flat at 0.0%.

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA ) rose 0.8%.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ ) slipped 0.3%.

The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM ) fell 0.3%.

Miners Rally on Gold’s Advance The Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLB ) was the best performer, up 1.2%, followed closely by the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLV ) at 1.1%.

The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLC ) was the clear laggard, down 1.6% on Alphabet’s slide, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE ) off 1.4% and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLU ) down 1.1%.

Precious-metals equities were the day’s real story.

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX ) soared 7.2%, its best session in weeks, while the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (NYSE: XME ) climbed 3.4%.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM ) jumped 7.3% to $104.91 on the bullion move.

On the other side of the commodity complex, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE: XOP ) dropped 2.4% and the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (NYSE: PBW ) fell 2.5%.

Stocks reacting to earnings reports included: Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET ) rose 4.1% to $198.31 after a revenue beat.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD ) sank 5.8% to $488.63 despite doubling datacenter revenue, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX ) gave back 8.7% to $114.48 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN ) gained 5.3% Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY ) rose 4.2% to $1,162.62 after beating revenue consensus and raising full-year guidance.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER ) dropped 7.2% CDW Corp. (NASDAQ: CDW ) fell 10.9%, CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS ) lost 5.4% EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG ) slid 5.2% Leading the Russell 1000, Freshpet Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT ) surged 14.0% after second-quarter sales rose 15.5% to $305.6 million and GAAP EPS of $0.39 came in 73.6% above consensus, with management raising 2026 guidance Dynatrace Inc. (NYSE: DT ) climbed 12.4% on adjusted EPS of $0.48 versus $0.44 expected and revenue of $554.5 million versus $549.3 million, plus a fiscal 2027 EPS outlook of $1.97-$1.99 that tops the $1.95 consensus.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL ) rallied 11.8% after posting adjusted EPS of $3.02 against a $2.74 estimate, revenue of $1.00 billion versus $976 million expected, and lifting full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $11.15â€"$11.45 on improving Discovery and Safety Assessment demand.

Aura Minerals Inc. (NASDAQ: AUGO ) gained 11.7%, tracking the sector-wide bid for gold and copper producers.

Primo Brands Corp. (NYSE: PRMB ) rose 10.8% after adjusted EPS of $0.37 beat the $0.30 consensus on revenue of $1.79 billion, and the company raised its full-year organic net sales growth outlook to 1%-3%.

On the downside, Insulet Corp. (NASDAQ: PODD ) cratered 20.2% despite EPS of $1.66 topping the $1.48 estimate, after revenue of $801.7 million narrowly missed and the company cut full-year revenue growth guidance to 20%-22% from 21%-23%, citing challenges scaling in type 2 diabetes.

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA ) tumbled 18.0% as full-year EPS guidance of $14.10-$15.20 straddled the $14.85 consensus, U.S. treatment volumes fell 1.1% year-over-year and a cybersecurity incident cost $13 million, overshadowing an EPS beat of $4.02 versus $3.92.

Medline Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLN ) slumped 17.0% after cutting its adjusted EBITDA outlook to $3.3 billion-$3.4 billion from $3.5 billion-$3.6 billion on Middle East-driven inflation, with net income down 58.3% to $139 million even as sales rose 11.6% to $7.7 billion.

Regal Rexnord Corp. (NYSE: RRX ) fell 15.8% on revenue of $1.56 billion that missed estimates, though non-GAAP EPS of $2.99 beat by 15.7% and management reiterated $10.60 in full-year adjusted EPS at the midpoint.

The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT ) dropped 15.2% after adding roughly 280,000 net digital subscribers against a 295,300 estimate and guiding third-quarter subscription revenue growth to 9%-11%,