--- title: "S&P 500 rises 1.1% as Waller leans toward holding rates" url: "https://etf.net/news/s-p-500-rises-1-1-as-waller-leans-toward-holding-rates-2026-09-03" published_at: "2026-09-03T21:54:07.730Z" updated_at: "2026-09-03T21:54:07.730Z" byline: "ETF.net Research" --- # S&P 500 rises 1.1% as Waller leans toward holding rates Thursday, September 3, 2026: S&P 500 +1.1% to 7,748 after Fed Governor Christopher Waller backed a possible September hold; ISM services prices paid 72.6, highest since October 2022. By ETF.net Research. Published Sep 3, 2026. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said in prepared remarks at a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker interview in Washington that if the next two weeks of data keep showing disinflation, he would be inclined to leave the federal funds rate at **3.50% to 3.75%**. The Institute for Supply Management's August services prices index printed **72.6**, its highest since October 2022. The S&P 500 added 82 points, or **1.1%**, to 7,748 at Thursday's close, with 3,866 of 4,635 priced U.S.-listed ETFs finishing higher. ## A hold, with an if Waller's prepared remarks put the condition in the first paragraph. Inflation, he said, remains "meaningfully above" the FOMC's 2% goal, but "recent data suggest we are finally seeing some signs of disinflation." If that continues in the numbers due before the September 15-16 meeting, he would support holding the rate. He also said that if inflation comes in hot, he would consider a hike. August services PMI rose to **55.4**, a 26th consecutive month in expansion, with business activity at 61.7 and new orders at 60.9. Employment stayed in contraction for a second month at **47.8**. The prices index at 72.6 was the fifth reading above 70 in six months. Earlier, initial jobless claims for the week ended August 29 printed **206,000**, up 2,000. Services are busy, they are not hiring, and they are still paying more. Fed funds futures implied a **48.4%** chance of a September hike, down about **15 percentage points** from Wednesday. The 20-year-plus Treasury fund TLT rose **0.1%** on some of its lightest volume in 20 sessions, and the 10-year yield was 4.77%. Investment-grade credit fund LQD gained 0.1% on some of its lightest volume in that window. A 1.1% equity day on a 0.1% long-bond day, with hike odds cut to a coin flip, is a September hike being taken down. The dollar fund UUP fell **0.6%** on some of its heaviest volume in 20 sessions. The Cboe Volatility Index dropped **5.8%** to **14.32**, still in the mid-14s where it has spent the past few sessions. Nvidia, the AI chip designer and the largest holding in the S&P 500 fund SPY, rose **1.8%** after agreeing to acquire Hugging Face, the open-model platform, for about **$11.9 billion** payable to stockholders plus up to **$1.0 billion** of employee retention, with a close expected in the first half of 2027. Nvidia added 0.15 percentage points to SPY. ## Financials and bitcoin capture the bid Eight of 11 SPDR sector funds closed higher. The financials fund XLF led, up **1.6%**; energy XLE was last, down **0.7%**. Chart: Eight of 11 sectors rose, led by **financials** The 2.3-percentage-point gap from financials to energy was a tight spread for a 1.1% day. Inside XLF, JPMorgan Chase added 0.19 percentage points and Goldman Sachs 0.12. Robinhood Markets, 1.0% of the fund, rose **16.6%** and contributed 0.17 percentage points, almost matching JPMorgan from a fraction of the weight. Goldman, the Dow's largest member by share price at 11.2% of the Dow industrials fund DIA, rose **3.3%** and accounted for **0.38 percentage points** of that fund's 1.2% gain, about a third of the move. Microsoft added 0.15 percentage points to SPY; Tesla added 0.08. Palantir Technologies, the data-analytics software company, rose **7.7%**, adding 0.13 percentage points to the Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ. The louder session was crypto. The iShares bitcoin fund IBIT rose **5.8%**, and all 12 spot bitcoin funds in the group closed higher, median 5.8%. All 22 crypto-equity funds rose, median 7.9%. Coinbase Global, the crypto exchange, gained 10.1%. Strategy, the bitcoin-treasury software company, jumped **17.6%**. ## Broadcom falls on a beat; energy lags oil Broadcom, the chip designer, fell **2.7%** a day after reporting fiscal third-quarter results that beat estimates on earnings and revenue, the largest drag on SPY at **0.07 percentage points**. All five 2x long Broadcom funds closed lower, median **−5.7%**. Oil did not buy energy stocks. The oil fund USO rose **0.7%**, a fourth straight gain that began Monday, August 31. The energy fund XLE still fell **0.7%**. Chart: USO climbed **9.3%** in five sessions; XLE reversed Thursday ExxonMobil, 20% of the fund, fell 1.2% and was the largest drag. Elsewhere, Snowflake, the cloud data company, closed **16.6%** higher after a fiscal second-quarter beat; shares had traded as high as $384.55 before giving some of that back. Ciena, the networking-equipment company, dropped **10.4%** after reporting EPS of $2.11 against a $1.73 estimate. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical fell **44%** after its Phase 3 Aspire study in Angelman syndrome missed its primary and key secondary endpoints, the largest drag on the Russell 2000 fund IWM. The gold fund GLD rose 1.8%, leaving it down 2.9% over five sessions. Friday's payrolls open the two weeks of data Waller conditioned the hold on. Inflation figures follow next week. The September 15-16 meeting is the test of whether 72.6 services prices and a coin-flip hike probability can live together. Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/s-p-500-rises-1-1-as-waller-leans-toward-holding-rates-2026-09-03. Please cite the page URL.