Welcome to our monthly briefing, where we provide a comprehensive analysis of recent economic events and their implications for the financial markets. August’s commentary examines how shifting inflation expectations, oil prices and Treasury yields influenced equity markets, while rising technology hardware prices introduced a potentially important new dimension to the inflation outlook.
Highlights from August’s Briefing:
- Markets rallied early in August as declining oil prices, lower Treasury yields and strong corporate earnings supported risk appetite. Later developments near the Strait of Hormuz renewed concerns about energy prices, inflation and interest rates, contributing to greater equity-market volatility.
- Equity leadership remained fluid. Growth stocks outperformed value during August, although value retained its year-to-date advantage, while small-cap and emerging-market equities continued to outpace large-cap U.S. stocks.
- Sector performance underscored the risks of reacting to short-term rotations. Information technology and materials rebounded from July, consumer staples weakened, and energy benefited from higher oil prices, reinforcing the importance of maintaining a fundamentals-based investment perspective.
- Consumer technology prices may no longer provide the same disinflationary benefit they have historically. After declining on average over the past five years, information technology commodity prices rose sharply in July, led by higher computer hardware prices.
- Strong AI-related demand for memory chips, constrained semiconductor supply and tariffs may be contributing to higher costs for personal computers, smartphones and other consumer devices.
Read the August 2026 Monthly Briefing for insights from Chief Market Strategist Julie Biel, CFA
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