Financials rise 1.5% after Waller says wait; energy falls with oil still higher
The financials fund XLF rose 1.54% on Thursday, September 3, 2026, after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said the Fed could wait a meeting if inflation cools; the energy fund XLE fell 0.71%.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Thursday, "Give disinflation a chance. We can wait one meeting." He tied that wait to continued progress toward 2% inflation, and said he would consider a hike if the August data come in hot. Odds of a September rate increase fell to 48.4%, down about 15 percentage points from Wednesday. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3.4 basis points to 4.76%. The financials fund XLF rose 1.5%, the most among the 11 sector funds, and closed within 0.1% of its 52-week high. The energy fund XLE, up 12.8% over the past month, fell 0.7% even as October West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $91.30 a barrel, up 0.32%, as of 5 p.m. Eastern.
Financials led all 11 sector funds Thursday
- +1.5%
- +1.4%
- +1.3%
- +1.2%
- +1.0%
- +0.9%
- +0.8%
- +0.2%
- −0.3%
- −0.6%
- −0.7%
Robinhood nearly matches JPMorgan in financials
Robinhood Markets jumped 16.6% as analysts raised their views on the broker. It is 1.0% of XLF and contributed 0.17 percentage points, nearly as much as JPMorgan Chase, 11.7% of the fund, which rose 1.6% and contributed 0.19 percentage points. Goldman Sachs added 3.3%. Robinhood and the banks are why the financials fund led the board; the cleaner rate trade sat next door. Thursday's gain was larger than the fund's entire 1.0% one-month advance.
The real estate fund XLRE bounced 1.2%, snapping six down sessions through Wednesday, with CBRE, American Tower, and Equinix in front. The utilities fund XLU added 0.84%.
Tesla does two-thirds of discretionary's gain
Tesla rose 5.4% ahead of Thursday evening's Cybercab unveiling in Austin, the production version of its purpose-built robotaxi. At 17% of the consumer discretionary fund XLY, it accounted for two-thirds of that fund's 1.4% gain. Amazon, the fund's largest holding at 24%, added 1.5%. Booking Holdings, DoorDash, and Chipotle all declined.
The same fund had fallen 1.7% on Tuesday. Thursday recouped most of that drop. Discretionary is still down 2.1% year to date and 1.8% over one month. One concentrated session does not repair that.
Nvidia's Hugging Face deal, Broadcom's guide
The technology fund XLK rose 1.3%. Microsoft, 10% of the fund, gained 2.7% and was the largest contributor. Nvidia rose 1.8% after agreeing to acquire Hugging Face, the open-source model platform, for $12.93 billion. Palantir jumped 7.7% and, at 2.6% of the fund, added almost as much as Nvidia did.
Broadcom, 4.7% of XLK, fell 2.7% and took 0.13 percentage points off. After the close Wednesday it guided to $34.8 billion of current-quarter revenue, below the $35.05 billion consensus. The technology fund is up 29.5% year to date and was flat over the past month; Thursday was a Microsoft-and-Nvidia session with a semiconductor hangover inside it.
Meta Platforms rose 3.0% and did more than half the work in the communication services fund XLC, which gained 0.87%. Charter Communications fell 4.8% and was the offset.
Energy fund falls as oil futures hold above $91
The U.S. oil futures fund USO rose 0.67%. The energy fund still fell 0.7%. Exxon Mobil, 20% of XLE, fell 1.2% and accounted for about a third of that decline. EOG Resources, ConocoPhillips, and SLB also dropped. Valero was one of the few gainers. The fund is still up 46.5% year to date. Thursday was a pause in that run, not a break in it.
The materials fund XLB fell 0.62% even as gold futures rose 2.8% to $4,539.90 an ounce as of 5 p.m. Eastern and Newmont gained 4.2%. Linde, Freeport-McMoRan, Dow, and Albemarle more than offset the miner. The consumer staples fund XLP slipped 0.32%. Tyson Foods fell 7.3% and was the largest drag; Mondelez and Kraft Heinz also declined. Walmart's 2.2% rise was not enough.
The industrials fund XLI rose 1.0% on 1.5 times usual volume, a high-attention bounce after a 6.3% one-month drop, led by GE Vernova and Vertiv.
The S&P 500 fund SPY gained 1.05%. The equal-weight S&P 500 fund RSP rose 0.66%, and the Russell 2000 fund IWM 0.39%. Thursday paid the large names in banks, Tesla, and the technology platforms more than it paid a broader book, and it did not pay the funds that had been compounding $90 oil.
Frequently asked
What did the Federal Reserve say to spark the market rally?
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank could wait one meeting before raising rates if inflation continues to cool.
Why did the energy sector decline while oil prices gained?
A drop in Exxon Mobil and other major energy producers dragged down the sector even as crude oil futures rose.
What drove the consumer discretionary sector's performance?
Tesla accounted for two-thirds of the sector's gains ahead of the unveiling of its new robotaxi.