Weekly Financial News — August 7, 2026

🌍 Dominant theme of the week

The trading week of 3 to 7 August 2026 was dominated by the US labour market, in a regime where investors feared a rate rise rather than a cut. The July employment report, released on Friday 7 August, showed a net loss of 23,000 jobs against a consensus of 80,000 to 85,000 gains, with unemployment at 4.1% and June revised down from 57,000 to 20,000. Futures immediately cut the probability of a September increase to about 44%, from 57% the day before, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Two other forces counted: the deflation of the war premium in oil, and the first joint US-Japanese intervention in the yen since 1998, confirmed on Monday 3 August.

📉 Weekly market performance

Changes over the week of 3 to 7 August 2026, measured at the Friday close.

• The CAC 40 strings together a seventh session of gains – The Paris benchmark closed Friday at 8,714.93 points, up 0.17%, after an intraday record of 8,755.03 points. It gained 2.41% over the week and posted a seventh consecutive advance, a run not seen since February 2025.
• Wall Street posts its best week since April – The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,757.64 points, with the Nasdaq up 1.30% at 26,690.62 points and the Dow up 0.28% at 54,036.93 points. Over the week the three indices gained 3.6%, 5.2% and close to 3%.
• The STOXX Europe 600 closes at a record 660.25 points – The pan-European index gained 0.3% on Friday and about 1.4% over the week, its fourth consecutive weekly advance. Technology, the leading sector of the week, added 1.9% on Friday, ahead of healthcare at 1.2%.
• Tokyo advances despite a softer Friday – The Nikkei 225 slipped 0.12% on Friday to 65,606.71 points, weighed down by profit-taking in semiconductor shares. Over the week it gained 1.9% and the Topix 1.8%.

🛢️ Commodities & Energy

• Brent gives back its war premium for a second week – The October contract settled Friday at around $83.44 a barrel, against $89.86 a week earlier according to AFP, a decline of close to 7%. Intraday, Reuters put the weekly drop in both benchmarks nearer 9%.
• Gold and silver post their best week of the year – Spot gold stood at $4,285.89 an ounce on Friday, up about 6% on the week according to Reuters and its best since January, while silver gained 11.6% to $63.48. According to Matt Simpson, of StoneX, hopes of peace in the Middle East pushed inflation expectations lower.
• Aluminium stays supported by low inventories – The benchmark contract was quoted at $3,273 a tonne on Friday according to Trading Economics, up 4.20% over one month. Output outside China fell 6.7% year on year in July and London Metal Exchange stocks are at their lowest this century.
• US natural gas at its lowest in three months – The benchmark contract traded around $2.65 per million BTU on Friday, down 17.36% over one month. Record production and storage above the five-year average are weighing on the market.

🏦 Central banks

No decision was scheduled this week: the four major central banks all ruled between 23 and 31 July, with their next dates falling in September.

• The Fed holds rates despite three hawkish dissents – The committee left the federal funds target range at 3.50%-3.75% on 29 July, by nine votes to three, with the dissenters arguing for a quarter-point increase. After the employment report, the probability of a rise on 16 September fell back to 44%, from 57% the day before.
• The ECB stays on hold after its June increase – The Governing Council kept its three rates unchanged on 23 July, with the deposit facility remaining at 2.25% since 17 June. Euro area inflation eased to 2.8% in June and Christine Lagarde expects an average of 2.6% across 2026.
• The Bank of England keeps Bank Rate at 3.75% – The committee voted six to three, on 29 July, to leave the policy rate unchanged, with the minority calling for 4%. The next decision will be announced on 17 September.
• The Bank of Japan holds its rate at a 1995 high – The central bank kept its rate at 1.00% on 31 July, by eight votes to one. It warns that core inflation will run clearly above 2% from the second half of its 2026 fiscal year.

📊 Macro data

• The US economy shed 23,000 jobs in July – The report published on Friday showed a net loss of 23,000 positions, against a consensus of 80,000 to 85,000 gains, with unemployment at 4.1% and June revised down to 20,000. Average hourly earnings rose only 0.1% and the ADP survey had counted just 44,000 private hires.
• The ISM surveys diverge between industry and services – The manufacturing index came in at 55.6% in July, its highest since May 2022, with production up 6.3 points at 58.5% and employment back above 50 for the first time in thirty-three months. Services, by contrast, disappointed at 54.1% against 54.5% expected, with a prices paid index of 70.3%.
• US jobless claims stay below the 200,000 mark – Initial claims rose by 1,000 to 199,000 for the week ending 1 August, below the 203,000 consensus. The four-week moving average fell to 198,750, its lowest since October 2022.
• The euro area consumes less while German industry holds up – Eurostat published on 6 August retail sales down 0.3% on the month in the euro area. German industrial production, by contrast, rose 0.2% in June according to Destatis, and orders 3.1%, though they fell excluding large-scale orders.
• Chinese exports rise by almost 24% – Customs reported on Friday exports up 23.9% year on year in July, at $397.85 billion, against 22.2% expected. Imports rose 27.5% and the trade surplus reached $112.5 billion.

🪙 Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin comes back within reach of $65,000 – The price traded around $64,750 on Friday according to CryptoPotato, after a monthly low of $62,200 on Monday. Published weekly changes diverge, from a 3.1% gain for CryptoPotato to a 0.7% decline over seven days for Yahoo Finance.
• ETFs take in money while Strategy sells at a loss – Spot funds drew about $764 million from 3 to 6 August, including $479 million for BlackRock’s IBIT alone. Strategy, by contrast, sold 1,638 units for $104.7 million between 27 July and 2 August, at an average $63,957, below its cost basis.
• A Coldcard flaw fuels the largest theft of the year – An entropy defect introduced by a March 2021 firmware release allowed attackers, from 30 July, to drain Coinkite hardware wallets in successive waves. Estimates range from $116 million as of 3 August according to Galaxy Research to more than $130 million as of 4 August according to TechCrunch.
• Ether advances as the Senate delays the CLARITY Act – Ether traded around $1,910 on Friday, up 3.4% on the week according to CryptoPotato, with cardano gaining 19%. The US Senate postponed on Thursday evening the vote on the market structure bill, and XRP fell 2.6% to $1.03.

💱 Currencies

• Washington and Tokyo intervene jointly in the yen – The two capitals confirmed on Monday 3 August a coordinated yen-buying operation, the first on the US side since 1998. The dollar, which had climbed to 163.99 yen, a forty-year high, fell back to 155.20 yen on Monday before returning to 157.48 yen on Friday.
• The euro ends the week above $1.15 – The single currency traded at $1.1568 after the employment report, up 0.4% on the week. The dollar index fell 0.4% to 99.54 and sterling gained 0.3% to $1.3502.

📈 Investment themes & analysis

• The semiconductor rebound carried the Nasdaq – The PHLX semiconductor index gained more than 6% in Tuesday’s session alone, with Intel up 10%, AMD 7%, Micron 8% and Marvell 14%. It coincided with the opening of the Flash Memory Summit 2026 in California.
• European earnings made the difference stock by stock – Kingspan jumped 17.8% after raising its guidance, Genmab 6.5% and Novo Nordisk 3.9%. On the other side, CSG dropped 8% despite revenue above expectations and Stellantis shed 1.7% after a broker downgrade.
• Precious metals benefit from receding inflation expectations – According to Matt Simpson, of StoneX, lower oil prices pushed inflation expectations down, which allowed gold to break out of its consolidation. This reasoning belongs to an analyst and is reported as such.

🧠 Editorial / Educational

CoinDesk published on Friday an analysis by Luke Deans, senior research associate at Bitwise, on the disappearance of bitcoin volatility. Deribit’s DVOL index, which measures implied volatility, is running near 35 against 90 earlier in the year. Deans reads this as fragility: “thin participation and market illiquidity can create fragile conditions in which relatively modest changes in supply or demand produce outsized price moves”. His conclusion, reported as it stands, is that a lack of movement should not be mistaken for an absence of risk.

🔭 Observed trends

• The market regime is still one of hike risk – Unlike the 2025 cycle, the dissents in the three committees that met in late July all argued for tightening. The market priced not a cut but the postponement of a rise, whose probability fell from about 61% to 44%, and equities advanced on a clearly negative labour print.
• The oil war premium deflates for a second week – Brent went from more than $100 on 23 July to about $88 on 31 July, then around $83 on 7 August. The talks between Iran, Oman and the United States cover control of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the US maritime blockade.
• Gold and oil are moving in opposite directions – Gold posted its best week since January just as crude lost 7% to 9%, an unusual combination that runs through inflation expectations and real rates. The next test is the US consumer price index for July, due on Wednesday 12 August.

This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decision.

Weekly financial bulletin automatically generated on August 7, 2026.