0812 | Cool Inflation Lifts Stocks; Wendy's Bid, Treasury Yields at 2007 High

Mia: Welcome back to After Market. I'm Mia, and alongside me is Milo. It was a brighter session for stocks after a subdued inflation reading took some pressure off the Federal Reserve to raise rates. That set the stage for tech to keep leading the rally, while Wendy's shares rocketed on takeover talk, and Treasury yields hit a level not seen in nearly two decades. We'll unpack all of that plus what's moving oil and equities on U.S.–Iran tensions over the Strait of Hormuz.

Milo: That's right, Mia. From the inflation numbers to a standout premarket surge from CoreWeave and a headline-grabbing 10-year Treasury auction, there's a lot to get into. So let's dig into what moved markets today.

Mia: Let's start with the broader tape. U.S. stocks moved higher after a softer-than-feared inflation reading eased the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise rates, which in turn cleared the path for the earnings-driven tech rally to keep rolling, according to Bloomberg's market coverage. The S&P 500 looked poised to snap a two-day losing streak. Consumer prices rose a tenth of a percent in July, right in line with expectations, putting the annual inflation rate at three point four percent. Global stocks also held their gains after that in-line consumer price reading.

Milo: And that inflation print was really the backbone of the session. On the corporate side, Cisco beat Wall Street estimates, while Cerebras reported a decline in its numbers. Beyond that, Homestretch flagged that Goldman Sachs is beefing up its asset management business. So you had a macro catalyst, in-line inflation, layered on top of individual earnings stories, and together they helped lift the market off that two-day slide.

Mia: Let's go a level deeper into that inflation picture, because the July consumer price report from 2026 showed underlying core inflation coming in subdued, and that's likely to ease the pressure on the Fed to raise rates. Empower's chief investment strategist, Marta Norton, weighed in on the data. Over on Bloomberg Surveillance, Pimco economist Tiffany Wilding said she expects the Fed to stay on hold when it meets in September.

Milo: So the next named decision point for the Fed is that September meeting, and this cooler core reading bolsters the case for holding rates steady. That said, economists in the breakdown note that costs still remain elevated for consumers even as inflation shows some signs of easing. So the report paints two pictures at once, inflation cooling at the margin, but everyday costs still biting.

Mia: Over to Wendy's now, where shares jumped to their highest level in seven weeks. The trigger, a Financial Times report that Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management is preparing a bid to take the struggling fast-food chain private. Bloomberg's Matt Monks had that on Bloomberg Deals.

Milo: Now, it's important to say the bid itself is not confirmed, it's based on that Financial Times report. But there's real history here. Peltz's relationship with Wendy's dates back more than two decades, to an activist campaign he led. For now, the move to watch is whether Trian or Wendy's issues an official statement confirming a formal bid, and whether the stock holds those gains into the next session.

Mia: Sticking with rates, a forty-two billion dollar auction of ten-year U.S. Treasuries cleared at the highest yield for the benchmark securities since 2007. The sale drew what the report called decent appetite from investors who've been demanding more and more compensation to finance the U.S. government.

Milo: So put simply, the U.S. sold ten-year debt at its steepest yields since the financial-crisis era, and demand held up rather than collapsing at those levels. For equity investors, the relevance is the rate backdrop. Ten-year yields have reset to levels last seen in 2007, which raises the compensation cost of financing the government and puts the benchmark rate at a multi-decade high. The thing to watch next is whether upcoming Treasury auctions keep clearing near these yields, or whether the required compensation starts to shift.

Mia: Now to the standout premarket move. CoreWeave surged eighteen percent in premarket trading after reporting that second-quarter revenue doubled, driven by surging AI demand from the big cloud hyperscalers. The report characterized the quarter as a cleaner one, and the earnings release was also cited as evidence of booming demand for Nvidia chips.

Milo: A couple of caveats worth noting. That eighteen percent gain was a premarket print as of the report, so the question is whether it holds once the regular session gets going. And the connection between CoreWeave's results and Nvidia demand is reported commentary, not a company-issued projection. So watch whether the move persists, and whether CoreWeave's infrastructure commentary adds any signal on hyperscaler spending tied to Nvidia chips. Separately, a stock-movers headline also flagged Cava rising on its sales.

Mia: Finally, let's talk geopolitics, because the latest tape signals are being driven by U.S.–Iran tension over the Strait of Hormuz, with direct moves in both oil and equities. Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall reports President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. has total control over the strait, saying, we own it, and that Iran's actions will be met with force. But talks appear deadlocked as each side hardens its stance.

Milo: And you can see the stakes in the shipping numbers. Reported Hormuz ship traffic is near a three-month low, roughly ninety percent below the daily average of about one hundred thirty ships that transited before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran back in late February. The market reaction, though, has been mixed rather than one-directional. Oil has climbed in some reports as traders stayed uncertain about a deal, while other reports show stocks inching up and oil dipping, or oil little changed as investors weigh weaker demand against the deadlock. The net read for U.S. equity investors is modest, stocks firmed slightly, oil ranged from a dip to little changed. The next signals are whether talks produce a breakthrough or a breakdown, and whether that sharp drop in Hormuz transits persists.

Mia: So to sum up the day, a subdued core inflation reading kept the Fed's hand steady for September, which lifted stocks overall. Wendy's jumped on unconfirmed take-private talk from Trian, the ten-year auction cleared at yields not seen since 2007, and CoreWeave surged in premarket on a doubled quarter, even as geopolitics over Hormuz kept oil choppy.

Milo: Thanks for joining us on After Market. That's it for today's show. We'll see you next time.