Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise for Third Straight Day; Bitcoin Pops on SEC News
Bitcoin and bitcoin-related stocks rallied Tuesday after a federal appeals court potentially paved the way for a spot market ETF.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Today
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.
Sent five days a week
Kiplinger A Step Ahead
Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Closing Bell
Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Adviser Intel
Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.
Delivered weekly
Kiplinger Tax Tips
Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Retirement Tips
Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirement
Sent bimonthly.
Kiplinger Adviser Angle
Insights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Investing Weekly
Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.
Sent weekly for six weeks
Kiplinger Invest for Retirement
Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.
Stocks closed higher Tuesday as investors cheered some bad-news-is-good-news jobs data. Sentiment also got a lift from an outsized rally in tech stocks that was fueled by declining Treasury yields and a round of bargain hunting.
Shortly after the opening bell rang, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said job openings fell by 338,000 in July to 8.8 million – their lowest level since March 2021. Professional and business services saw the biggest decline in job openings (-198,000), while the information field experienced the largest increase (+101,000). Meanwhile, the number of people quitting their jobs fell to 3.5 million from 3.8 million in June.
The Federal Reserve has consistently expressed concern that a stubbornly tight labor market is working at odds with its efforts to bring down inflation, so today's data is welcome news. Indeed, futures traders are now pricing in an 87% chance the central bank will pause rate hikes at its September meeting – up from yesterday's 78%, according to CME Group. Meanwhile, the probability of a rate hike at the Fed's November meeting dropped to 45% from Monday's 51%.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Investors will get another reading on the labor market this Friday with the release of the August nonfarm payrolls report. "Investors should expect a softening labor report this Friday, further cementing the thesis that the Fed is getting close to finishing its tightening cycle," says Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial.
Also on today's economic calendar, data from The Conference Board showed its consumer confidence index fell to 106.1 in August from July's downwardly revised reading of 114.0. This marked the first decline for the index in two months. "Write-in responses showed that consumers were once again preoccupied with rising prices in general, and for groceries and gasoline in particular," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, in the report.
Coinbase, Bitcoin jump on favorable court order
In single-stock news, Coinbase Global (COIN) surged 14.9% today after a federal appeals court in Washington D.C. overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) attempt to block Grayscale Investments' application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Judge Neomi Rao said the SEC's decision to approve two bitcoin future ETFs but reject the application for the spot market fund was "arbitrary and capricious."
The order "does not convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC, +17.0%) product into an ETF immediately, but gives a fair basis for Grayscale to be treated in line with other Bitcoin ETF applicants," says Gautam Chhugani, senior analyst of Global Digital Assets at Bernstein.
Other bitcoin-related stocks got a lift on the news, too, including Robinhood Markets (HOOD, +4.5%) and MicroStrategy (MSTR, +10.8%). Bitcoin, for its part, jumped more than 7%.
As for the major market indexes, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 1.7% to 13,943, the broader S&P 500 gained 1.5% to 4,497, and the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to 34,852.
Related content
-
How Much It Costs to Host a Super Bowl Party in 2026Hosting a Super Bowl party in 2026 could cost you. Here's a breakdown of food, drink and entertainment costs — plus ways to save.
-
3 Reasons to Use a 5-Year CD As You Approach RetirementA five-year CD can help you reach other milestones as you approach retirement.
-
Your Adult Kids Are Doing Fine. Is It Time To Spend Some of Their Inheritance?If your kids are successful, do they need an inheritance? Ask yourself these four questions before passing down another dollar.
-
Fed Vibes Lift Stocks, Dow Up 515 Points: Stock Market TodayIncoming economic data, including the January jobs report, has been delayed again by another federal government shutdown.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into AMD Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayAdvanced Micro Devices stock is soaring thanks to AI, but as a buy-and-hold bet, it's been a market laggard.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into UPS Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayUnited Parcel Service stock has been a massive long-term laggard.
-
How the Stock Market Performed in the First Year of Trump's Second TermSix months after President Donald Trump's inauguration, take a look at how the stock market has performed.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Lowe's Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayLowe's stock has delivered disappointing returns recently, but it's been a great holding for truly patient investors.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into 3M Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayMMM stock has been a pit of despair for truly long-term shareholders.
-
These Were the Hottest S&P 500 Stocks of the YearAI winners lead the list of the S&P 500's top 25 stocks of 2025, but some of the names might surprise you.
-
Crypto Trends to Watch in 2026Cryptocurrency is still less than 20 years old, but it remains a fast-moving (and also maturing) market. Here are the crypto trends to watch for in 2026.
