The U.S. labor market slowed sharply this summer, with August payrolls adding just 22,000 jobs after July's 79,000 and a downward June revision showing a 13,000 loss.

The three-month average now stands at 29,000, virtually guaranteeing Federal Reserve rate cuts starting with a quarter-point move at the September 17 meeting, followed by more later this year.

Despite the weak jobs backdrop, Wall Street has stayed buoyant, pushing the S&P 500 to fresh highs before a modest pullback, leaving the index up about 10% year-to-date.

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Gold has surged past $3,500, rising in seven of the last eight sessions and up 37% in 2025, on pace for its strongest annual run since 1978. Investors are also positioning defensively, with safe-haven demand driven by both rate-cut expectations and political uncertainty over the Fed's independence under President Donald Trump.

Earnings

Nio NIO reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of 19.01 billion Chinese yuan ($2.65 billion), up 9.0% year-over-year (Y/Y). The revenue grew by 57.9% sequentially.

Broadcom Inc. AVGO reported third-quarter revenue of $15.95 billion, beating analyst estimates of $15.83 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. 

Dollar Tree, Inc.’s DLTR second-quarter sales increased 12.3% to $4.567 billion, beating the consensus of $4.484 billion. Same-store net sales increased 6.5%, driven by a 3% increase in traffic and a 3.4% increase in average ticket.

Macy’s Inc M reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised its fiscal outlook. Net sales reached $4.81 billion for the quarter, down 2.5% year over year, beating the consensus of $4.76 billion.

DocuSign, Inc. DOCU posted second-quarter earnings of 92 cents per share, topping the consensus of 84 cents.

DocuSign also raised its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to $3.19–3.20 billion, above the prior Street estimate of $3.16 billion.

lululemon athletica inc. LULU  reported second-quarter revenue of $2.53 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion.

Technology

Apple Inc. AAPL  is reportedly developing its own artificial intelligence-powered web search tool, internally dubbed "World Knowledge Answers," for integration into Siri by 2026.

Apple was hit with a class-action lawsuit on Friday alleging the tech giant illegally used copyrighted books without permission to train its artificial intelligence systems.

Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR is strengthening its role in the U.S. industry by expanding key partnerships and scheduling its next central customer showcase.

The company announced a five-year extension with Lear Corporation LEA, a new collaboration with Lumen Technologies, Inc. LUMN, and plans for its upcoming AIPCon 8 event in September 2025.

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is paying $1.5 billion to rent its own chips – yes, the same GPUs it sold to Lambda, a cloud startup it partly owns.

Roku, Inc. ROKU announced Friday that it has partnered with YouTube TV to bring live sports directly to its Sports Channel, enabling viewers to stream NFL and NBA games without switching between multiple apps.

Meta Platforms, Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on June 8, 2023, that his lessons from Jiu-Jitsu, including the willingness to embrace embarrassment, helped him grow as a leader and reshape both his image and his company’s direction.

Artificial Intelligence

The artificial intelligence sector continues to attract significant venture capital despite broader economic uncertainties, with the past week seeing over $120 million invested across a diverse range of AI startups. 

Jeff Bezos’ Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Alphabet Inc GOOG-backed Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit from authors who accused the artificial intelligence company of using their books without permission to train its Claude chatbot.

HubSpot, Inc. HUBS unveiled over 200 product updates at its INBOUND 2025 event, pitching AI-driven growth initiatives but holding firm on its 2027 margin outlook, leaving investors weighing innovation against profitability.

DeepSeek and MEITUAN MPNGY are emerging as China’s strongest contenders in the escalating race to challenge OpenAI, Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA, and Tencent Holding Ltd. TCEHY in global artificial intelligence.

Automobile

BYD Co., Ltd. BYDDY has reportedly slashed the annual sales target for 2025 by 16% amid a decline in profits.

Downloads for Tesla, Inc.’s TSLA Robotaxi app on Apple’s App Store hit a record high amid proposed autonomous driving regulations.

Tesla board of directors unveiled a striking new compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk that could be worth as much as $1 trillion, setting the stage for one of the largest pay packages ever seen in corporate America.

Lucid Group, Inc. LCID has unveiled its latest global brand campaign, Driven, featuring Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet.

BMW Group and QUALCOMM Incorporated QCOM have introduced Snapdragon Ride Pilot on Friday, a new automated driving platform aimed at advancing safety and driver assistance.

WeRide Inc. WRD has officially launched round-the-clock commercial operations of its mass-produced Robotaxi GXR in Guangzhou's Huangpu District.

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