Overview
U.S. large-cap stocks, measured by the S&P 500 Index, rose 2.0% in August. U.S. small-cap stocks, as proxied by the Russell 2000 Index, ended the month up a noteworthy 7.1%. This marked the Russell 2000’s strongest monthly return since November 2024 and its best August since 2000. U.S. intermediate-term bonds, as proxied by the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, gained 1.2% in August. Economic data in the U.S. struck a curious balance between softening in some areas, like the labor market, but continued strength in other areas.