S&P 500 Snaps Three-Day Slide as Accenture Jumps 16%

As flagged in this morning's analysis, overnight E-mini December futures sat near 7,763 against Wednesday's 7,651.54 cash close, WTI near 89.20 dollars, gold about 4,181 dollars, and Bitcoin near 83,590 dollars, with ISM manufacturing due at 14:00 UTC and Nike after the close. The overnight bid did not cash. The S&P 500 closed 7,666.45, up 0.19 percent, snapping a three-day losing streak. Accenture jumped 15.8 percent on a fourth-quarter beat. WTI last printed about 93.28 dollars. Gold last printed about 4,175 dollars. Bitcoin last printed about 84,660 dollars. This is the evening scorecard, not an instruction.

The Close: S&P Finishes 7,666.45, a Three-Day Slide Broken

The S&P 500 closed 7,666.45, up 14.91 points or 0.19 percent (Associated Press via WTOP 4:23 p.m. ET; Markets Insider 4:12 p.m. ET; Morningstar/Dow Jones Market Data 4:28 p.m. ET). Open 7,671.89. High 7,684.75, which reclaimed this morning's 7,670.84 trigger and Monday's 7,683.69. Low 7,616.78, which ran through Wednesday's 7,651.54 close and the 7,650.50 reference before the bounce. The cash close sits just short of 7,670.84. Overnight futures near 7,763 never made it into the cash print. The August 13 record at 7,816.70 remains unrepaired. The Nasdaq Composite closed 26,871.60 (+10.53, less than 0.1 percent), still short of the September 22 record at 27,244.28. The Dow closed 50,926.56 (+20.51 / +0.04 percent). The Russell 2000 closed 2,806.63 (+0.3 percent). For the week the S&P is down about 1 percent, the Dow 1.7 percent, and the Nasdaq 0.7 percent. London fell 1.7 percent, Paris 1.6 percent, and Frankfurt 1 percent.

Story of the Day: Accenture's Best Day, ISM Prices at 77.9

Accenture closed 212.30 dollars, up 15.78 percent after a 227.63 high, on pace for its largest one-day gain on record (CNBC, FactSet). Fiscal fourth-quarter EPS printed 3.29 dollars versus 3.18 dollars consensus. Revenue printed 18.68 billion versus 18.03 billion. New bookings reached 22.17 billion dollars. Fiscal 2027 revenue and adjusted EPS growth were guided at 3 to 6 percent. IBM and other IT-services names followed the print. Corteva's collapse on the tape is the Vylor seed spin-off, a mechanical 1-for-1 distribution, not an operating crash.

September ISM manufacturing printed 54.5 versus 55.0 expected and 54.6 in August, a ninth expansion month (ISM). New orders rose to 55.3. Employment rose to 52.7. Prices paid jumped to 77.9 from 71.1, a 6.8 point rise near the March reading at the start of the Iran war. That is this morning's contained-yields path on the headline and the hot-print path on prices. The 10-year Treasury yield tagged about 5.34 percent, the highest since 2002, then gave those gains back into the close (Associated Press). Initial jobless claims fell 1,000 to 197,000 versus 200,000 expected. Continuing claims printed 1.701 million (Reuters, Labor Department).

West Texas Intermediate last printed about 93.28 dollars (FT November close 93.28, range 88.79 to 93.68), a reversal from this morning's about 89.20 after the session low. Tuesday's 94.74 high remains the scare marker. Spot gold last printed about 4,175 dollars (TradingView 4,178.385; GoldPrice.com 4,174.42 at 4:41 p.m. ET), a fade from this morning's 4,181, still below 4,200, a bounce from Wednesday's about 4,157.

Crypto Check: Bitcoin Holds $84,660

Bitcoin last printed about 84,660 dollars (TradingView 84,661, up 0.71 percent over 24 hours). That is a bounce from this morning's 83,590 and a hold of the 82,000 reference. Sunday's about 84,835 was essentially tagged. Ether last printed about 2,699 dollars (TradingView 2,699.2, up 0.72 percent), a bounce from this morning's 2,688. Live levels: homepage. BTC bullish trigger: a hold of 84,660 dollars, then a clean reclaim of Sunday's 84,835. Bearish trigger: a slip through 82,000, then 80,000.

After-Hours and Overnight Watch

Nike is the live after-hours tape. Cash closed 35.15 dollars (-0.71 percent). Fiscal first-quarter revenue printed 11.21 billion versus 11.33 billion expected. EPS printed 0.48 dollars. The company said fiscal 2027 revenues are expected to decline in the high single digits. Shares fell as much as 6 percent after hours (Yahoo Finance; Reuters about 4 percent). Friday is payrolls. Economists polled by Reuters look for about 90,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. China remains shut through Golden Week. Docket: week ahead. Watch whether the S&P holds today's 7,666.45 close, whether the 10-year holds the 5.34 percent tag, and whether WTI holds today's 88.79 low. Bullish trigger: a reclaim of 7,670.84 toward today's 7,684.75 high. Bearish trigger: a slide through today's 7,616.78 low.

For live prices see the ThriveInMarkets homepage. None of the above is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Index closes are Thursday, October 1, 2026; gold, oil, Bitcoin and Ether are live as of 20:45 UTC.