S&P 500 down 0.32% — Market Pulse · Aug 11, 2026

U.S. stocks finished mixed on August 11. The S&P 500 closed at 7728.2, down 24.91 points, or 0.32%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% to 26445.45 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.34% to 53791.85. The Russell 2000 stood out, rising 0.32% to 3027.12.

Key Takeaways

• S&P 500 closed down 0.32% at 7,728.20.
• Market breadth finished with 275 advancers, 226 decliners, and a 1.217 advance/decline ratio.
• Energy led sectors at +1.25%, while Real Estate lagged at -0.72%.
• VIX ended at 15.28 in the latest five-session lookback.
• SPY’s first resistance is 774.73 and first support is 771.61.

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Market Breadth: Small caps and cyclicals held up as large caps eased and energy stayed in front

Metric	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 10	Aug 11
Advance/Decline Ratio	0.950	0.676	1.815	0.859	1.217
Advances	245	202	323	231	275
Declines	258	299	178	269	226
Advancing Volume	47.6%	26.9%	67.8%	51.7%	54.7%
Stocks Near 52-Week Highs	17	10	15	18	21
Stocks Near 52-Week Lows	0	1	1	2	2
% Above 20-Day MA	65.4%	63.4%	65.4%	63.6%	64.0%
% Above 50-Day MA	67.6%	64.6%	66.4%	65.8%	64.0%
% Above 200-Day MA	71.6%	71.2%	73.4%	72.8%	72.2%

Under the surface, participation looked better than the headline index moves suggested. Advancers beat decliners 275 to 226, the advance-decline ratio was 1.217, and advancing volume reached 54.72%. There were 21 stocks near 52-week highs versus 2 near lows, and 63.62% of stocks were above their 20-day moving average, 63.42% above the 50-day, and 69.18% above the 200-day.

Explore the full dashboard: Market breadth.

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Market Performance: Major Indexes

Index	Close	Change	% Change
S&P 500	7,728.20	-24.91	-0.32%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	53,791.85	-184.13	-0.34%
Nasdaq Composite	26,445.45	-159.91	-0.60%
Russell 2000	3,027.12	9.72	+0.32%

Five-session context:

Index	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 10	Aug 11
S&P 500	-0.17%	-0.18%	+0.62%	-0.06%	-0.32%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	+0.49%	-0.85%	+0.28%	-0.11%	-0.34%
Nasdaq Composite	-0.83%	-0.06%	+1.30%	-0.32%	-0.60%
Russell 2000	-0.59%	-0.58%	+1.10%	-0.56%	+0.32%

The session showed a split market. Large-cap indexes eased, but smaller stocks held up better with the Russell 2000 in positive territory. Over the past five sessions, returns were choppy across the major benchmarks, with a strong bounce on August 7 followed by softer closes on August 10 and August 11 for the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq.

Explore the full dashboard: Market snapshot.

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Sector View: Leaders and Laggards

• Leaders: Energy (XLE +1.25%), Utilities (XLU +1.16%), Industrials (XLI +0.60%), Materials (XLB +0.11%), Financials (XLF -0.02%)
• Laggards: Real Estate (XLRE -0.72%), Communication Services (XLC -0.50%), Consumer Discretionary (XLY -0.36%), Consumer Staples (XLP -0.31%), Health Care (XLV -0.26%)

Leadership tilted toward Energy and defensive groups. XLE rose 1.25% to 60.93 and XLU gained 1.16% to 43.63, while Industrials added 0.6% to 185.7. On the weak side, Real Estate fell 0.72% to 44.08, Communication Services lost 0.5% to 111.27, and Consumer Discretionary slipped 0.36% to 119.24.

Explore the full dashboard: Sector performance.

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Volatility: VIX and ETF Implied Volatility

Metric	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 10	Aug 11
VIX Level	15.81	15.15	14.90	15.46	15.28

• SPY IV: 9.91% (Low)
• QQQ IV: 15.97% (Normal)
• IWM IV: 14.99% (Low)
• DIA IV: 11.22% (Low)

Volatility stayed contained. The VIX closed at 15.28, down from 15.46 on August 10 and still close to the recent range between 14.9 and 15.81 over the last five sessions. Options pricing also pointed to relatively calm conditions, with SPY implied volatility at 9.91%, IWM at 14.99%, and DIA at 11.22%, all labeled Low, while QQQ sat at 15.97%, labeled Normal.

Explore the full dashboard: Volatility.

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Headlines Moving Markets

News flow pointed to a mix of company and macro drivers. Reuters highlighted rising oil and fading optimism around a potential US-Iran deal, which fit with Energy leadership and weaker broad indexes. On the macro side, the latest included official context showed second quarter 2026 GDP rising at a 1.5% annual rate, below the 2.1% pace in the first quarter, while June personal income rose 0.2% and PCE increased 0.3%.

• We’re lifting our price target on Cardinal Health after issuing rosy profit guidance
• Oil continues climb with doubts about potential US-Iran deal; stocks retreat - Reuters
• Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement
• GDP (Advance Estimate), 2nd Quarter 2026
• Personal Income and Outlays, June 2026
• U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, June 2026
• New attacks on shipping as Iran war talks hit fresh impasse - Reuters
• Wall Street ends down as US-Iran peace optimism fades - Reuters
• Four crew killed in Red Sea attack while missile strike reported in Gulf - Reuters
• Invitation Homes CEO says ban on institutional homebuying will bring down prices, but not immediately
• Trump wants to split the MMR vaccine. Experts say that’s unlikely — and comes with consequences
• Trump says Iran options are let Tehran fail economically or ‘hit them really hard’ - Reuters

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Technical Snapshot (SPY)

Level	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 10	Aug 11
20-day SMA	747.15	748.37	749.23	750.14	751.33
50-day SMA	745.16	745.68	746.08	746.57	746.98
200-day SMA	698.43	699.00	699.55	700.08	700.62

Near-term pivot structure, based on 2026-08-10:

• Resistance: 774.73 (R1), then 776.44 (R2)
• Pivot: 773.32
• Support: 771.61 (S1), then 770.20 (S2)

SPY technical levels remain a useful near-term map. Using the August 10 reference, the traditional pivot is 773.32, with support at 771.61 and 770.2, and resistance at 774.73 and 776.44. Longer-term trend gauges still slope higher: SPY’s 20-day SMA rose from 747.15 on August 5 to 751.33 on August 11, the 50-day climbed from 745.16 to 746.98, and the 200-day advanced from 698.43 to 700.62.

Explore the full dashboard: Support & Resistance levels.

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What to Watch Next

• Whether the S&P 500 can reclaim the 773.32 SPY pivot after closing at 7728.2.
• Breadth follow-through, especially if advancing volume can stay above 54.72% and the advance-decline ratio above 1.217.
• Energy leadership after XLE added 1.25% and Reuters reported continued oil strength tied to US-Iran doubts.
• Small-cap relative strength. The Russell 2000 rose 0.32% even as the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%.
• Volatility tone, with the VIX back to 15.28 and SPY implied volatility at 9.91%.
• Institutional positioning is worth tracking too: options whale activity was overall BULLISH with a 4.13 call-put ratio, while stock whale flow was overall BEARISH with a 0.8 buy-sell ratio.

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Bottom Line

The August 11 session was softer at the index level, but not broadly weak beneath the surface. Small-cap outperformance, positive breadth, rising moving averages, and contained volatility argued for a market that is still holding its footing, even as leadership stayed selective and large caps pulled back.

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Market Pulse provides daily analysis of S&P 500 market breadth, sector rotation, and volatility signals to help investors understand what’s happening beneath the surface. Data sourced from our real-time market breadth collectors. For personalized planning, explore our retirement calculators, investment tools, and FIRE planning resources.

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