S&P 500, Nasdaq close flat even as GDP and core PCE land together

On the 26th (local time), GDP landed alongside core PCE and Nvidia's Q2 results came only after the close — the S&P 500 finished at 7,675.70, the Nasdaq at 26,130.20 and the Dow at 53,463.88, all three within 0.2%.

• The core PCE price index matched expectations; the benchmark Treasury yield held at 4.664% and the long bond at 5.186%, and oil closed -0.6%

• Health care lagged and industrials led among sectors; the biggest single-name gainers were HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) +3.4%, Oracle +2.8%, Palantir +2.8% and Dell +2.7%

• Moderna -5.8% and Eli Lilly -3.6% led the decliners, while advancers on the S&P 500 numbered 225, or 45% — a mixed session across names

• Meta settled the teen social media addiction suit for $18 billion; jobless claims on the 27th and Michigan consumer sentiment on the 28th come next

Waiting on Nvidia drained the session of direction

With results due after the close, both the indexes and volatility stayed inside a narrow band

• The VIX fell 1.6% to 15.21, though the inflation print clearing did little to push it lower

• Nvidia itself closed -1.6% in the regular session, then rose more than 4% in extended trading once the results were out

• Whether that overnight gain survives the 27th's regular session is the next thing to watch