In-Line PCE, Bond Lines Hold, Five Prints Tonight
In-line core PCE leaves both bond lines standing as the tape flattens into a five-print evening — Nvidia the referee
Core PCE printed 0.2% on the month with the yearly rate steady at 3.3% while the headline ran a tenth hot, and neither TLT's 81.2 nor IEF's 93.04 traded — the morning Pulse's read passes its first test. IBIT dips under 44.5 intraday, Intuit carries its guidance punishment down 4.24%, the semis hold their bounce flat, and low volatility reclaims its 50-day with VIXY within half a percent of its year low.
In this edition
The Midday 10 Wed, Aug 26, 2026 ~60 seconds 12:30 ET
The midday tape is nearly flat at the index level — SPY unchanged, QQQ up 0.03% — after a morning data slate that answered in-line on the number that mattered most: core PCE at 0.2% month-over-month, the yearly rate steady at 3.3%. Underneath the flat surface, rotation pulls Industrials (+1.08%) and Energy (+0.81%) higher while Health Care (−0.96%) leads the declines, and everything else waits for tonight's five prints.
US midday, intraday quotes (delayed)
- PCE answers in-line — both bond lines stand
- Five prints after the close — the referee's evening
- Semis hold the bounce, quietly
- Intuit carries the punishment into the session
- IBIT dips under 44.5 — the reclaim wobbles
- ETF board
- Low volatility reclaims its 50-day as VIXY sits on its floor
- AAON and Photronics lead the gainers
- IREN and Duolingo take the sharpest cuts
- LULU slips under the 50-day, WMT's stall extends
The ten lines
- 1
LEVEL PCE answers in-line — both bond lines stand
TLT
Core PCE printed 0.2% for July against a 0.2% consensus, with the yearly rate steady at 3.3%; the headline ran a tenth hot at 3.7% year-over-year and durable goods came in strong at 1.1% against 0.5% expected. The long bond gave back a fraction on the mix — TLT −0.28% to 83.24, IEF −0.20% to 93.33 — but neither of the lines this morning's Pulse read depends on traded: TLT holds well above the 81.2 band and IEF stays above 93.04. Day one of the contrarian bond read passes on the data it feared most.
- 2
PRINT Five prints after the close — the referee's evening
NVDA
Nvidia trades −0.83% to 211.29 into tonight's report (consensus revenue $92.27B, EPS $2.09), giving back part of Tuesday's pre-print bid. CrowdStrike recovers +1.17% to 187.54 after leading yesterday's cyber selloff into its own print; Salesforce slips −1.21% to 203.21 defending May's +18.1% payment; Synopsys +0.35% to 410.21 and HP +1.07% round out the slate. Five reports, one evening, every one with a live Print Record card going in.
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- 3
THREAD Semis hold the bounce, quietly
SOXX
Day two of the trendline bounce is a hold, not an extension: SOXX +0.15% to 514.81, comfortably above the 505 trigger, with SMHX +0.39%, XSD −0.08% and SMH −0.02% clustered around flat. Software still is not participating — IGV sits at −0.04% — so the split this morning's edition carried persists unchanged into the referee's report.
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Further reading on Closelook
Ten lines on the US midday tape, not advice — an investment diary. Published every trading day at 12:30 ET. See The Morning 10 and the Daily Pulse.