Stock Market Today: Bitcoin Surges Above $77,000, S&P 500 Posts Weekly Loss, Oil price at $94

By William Collins, consultant in stock markets – Eurasia Business News, August 21, 2026. Article no 3113

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, August 21, but Wall Street’s three major indexes still closed the week lower as Treasury yields remained near multi-year highs. Bitcoin jumped more than 6% above $77,000, gold futures climbed beyond $4,600 per ounce and oil prices extended their advance as investors weighed fiscal risks, bond-market pressure and escalating U.S.-Iran tensions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 518 points on Friday. However, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each recorded a weekly loss of at least 0.8%, reflecting investor concern that high long-term interest rates may continue weighing on valuations, consumer spending and corporate borrowing.

Treasury Yields Stay Elevated

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s plan to expand long-dated government bond buybacks provided only temporary relief to bond markets. The Treasury recently said it would at least double the maximum size of buybacks for longer-dated nominal securities, raising the cap from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation.

The policy was designed to support liquidity in less actively traded Treasury bonds and reduce pressure on long-term borrowing costs. Initially, the announcement pushed yields lower. But by the end of the week, the 30-year Treasury yield stood at 5.276%, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield finished at 4.737%.