Friday, August 28, 2026
Wall Street closed out its best day since early August on Thursday, with Nvidia's blowout earnings sparking a broad tech rally. But Friday is a different mood: markets across Asia and Europe are treading carefully as everyone waits for U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh to deliver his first Jackson Hole speech since taking the job. Here's where things stand heading into the weekend.
🇨🇦 TSX: Steady Near Record Territory
The S&P/TSX Composite closed Thursday at 36,834.25, up 20.60 points (+0.06%), recovering from a nearly 100-point midday dip. Financials were the drag — the Capped Financials sub-index fell 0.62% after National Bank's stock slid more than 4% following its Q3 earnings, capping off a bank-earnings week that otherwise ran hot (Scotiabank, BMO, RBC and CIBC all posted double-digit profit growth). Energy stocks offset the weakness, with the Capped Energy Index up 0.82% as oil firmed.
| Index | Close | Change |
| S&P/TSX Composite | 36,834.25 | +20.60 (+0.06%) |
🇺🇸 Wall Street: Nvidia's Reversal Lifts the Board
Nvidia dropped roughly 4% right after reporting earnings Wednesday, then reversed hard — opening about 6% higher Thursday and finishing the session up 8.7% to 9.1%, its biggest one-day gain since April 2025 and the largest single-day market-value addition ($442 billion US) on record. The company forecast 70% revenue growth for its next fiscal year, well above the roughly 44% analysts had expected, and that guidance pulled the rest of the AI trade higher: Broadcom (+4.5%), Salesforce (+22.6% on its own earnings), CrowdStrike (+20.5%) and Palo Alto Networks (+12.8%) all posted big gains.
| Index | Close | Change |
| Dow Jones | 53,569.44 | +105.56 (+0.20%) |
| S&P 500 | 7,730.99 | +55.29 (+0.72%) |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,541.35 | +411.16 (+1.57%) |
It wasn't all smooth, though. A trio of Fed regional presidents speaking from Jackson Hole this week — including Cleveland's Beth Hammack and Kansas City's Jeff Schmid — have pushed back on rate-cut hopes, warning that inflation running near 3% is still too high. That's left futures markets pricing roughly a 35% chance of a rate hike at the Fed's September meeting, not a cut, which is why all eyes are on Chair Kevin Warsh's speech later today. Adding to the overnight caution: Marvell Technology fell more than 7% in after-hours trading on weak margin guidance, a reminder that not every chip name is riding Nvidia's coattails.
🌍 Europe and Asia: Cautious Into Warsh
European futures were pointing to a mixed-to-slightly-higher open Friday, with Euro Stoxx 50 futures up about 0.3%, as investors there also wait on the Jackson Hole speech before making a move.
Asia-Pacific trading was mixed overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose roughly 0.5–0.8% to around 66,400–66,680, and Taiwan's benchmark jumped as much as 1.2% on Nvidia's overnight surge. South Korea's Kospi was the outlier, falling around 1–1.8% as chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix pulled back after their own recent run. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and mainland China's CSI 300 were roughly flat.
🛢️ Commodities and the Loonie
| Asset | Level | Move |
| Brent crude | ~US$89.33 | -0.4% (down ~5% on the week) |
| WTI crude | ~US$82–84 | firming from Wednesday's lows |
| Gold (spot) | ~US$4,594/oz (~C$6,360) | easing off Thursday's US$4,647 close |
| Canadian dollar | ~72.1–72.2 cents US (~1.386 USD/CAD) | little changed |
Oil is on track for its worst week in over a month, down more than 5% for Brent, after Iran and Oman reportedly agreed to jointly manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — the clearest sign yet that the geopolitical risk premium that pushed crude above $93 last week is deflating. Gold has pulled back from this week's fresh records above US$4,700/oz but remains up sharply for the month as investors continue to hedge against sticky inflation and a shaky bond market.
💰 What It Means for You
If you fill up this weekend, the pullback in oil is good news — gas prices should ease modestly alongside it, though the gas tax holiday still expires Sept. 7. If you're near a TFSA or RRSP rebalance, gold's pullback from record highs is worth watching rather than chasing; it's still up substantially for 2026. And if you're holding U.S. dollars for a trip or online shopping, the loonie's steadiness near 72 cents means little has changed this week — but that could shift quickly depending on what Warsh signals today.
📅 What to Watch
- Today: Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's first Jackson Hole keynote as chair — the single biggest catalyst for markets today, with futures pricing meaningful odds of a September hike rather than a cut.
- This weekend: Jackson Hole symposium wraps up Saturday.
- Sept. 2: Bank of Canada rate decision — a hold at 2.25% is still favoured, though July's hot 3.0% CPI print has made it less of a lock.
- Sept. 7: Federal gas tax holiday expires.
- Sept. 8: Canada's retaliatory tariffs on steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics take effect.
Market data reflects Thursday, Aug. 27 closing prices and Friday morning pre-market/overseas levels as available at publish time. This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
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