August 5 market wrap: Nasdaq slips as the Dow gains

The Dow rose while the Nasdaq-100 slipped

U.S. stocks ended with a split close on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. The S&P 500 finished at 7,723.55, down 12.97 points, or 0.17%. The Nasdaq-100 lost 245.41 points, or 0.83%, to 29,487.79, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 263 points, or 0.49%, to 54,349. The official Cboe delayed feeds supplied each closing level, previous close and regular-session move; the arithmetic was recomputed before publication.

Volatility eased and the short Treasury yield edged lower

The Cboe VIX closed at 15.81, down 0.69 point, or 4.18%, from 16.50 on August 4. The U.S. Treasury’s official daily curve put the 2-year par yield at 4.18%, two basis points below 4.20%, while the 10-year held at 4.63%. A lower VIX alongside a weaker Nasdaq-100 is not a contradiction: the index reflects expected S&P 500 volatility over roughly 30 days, not the direction of one session or the pricing of every individual stock option.

Wheel watch: Alphabet and Enphase widened the day’s dispersion

Within the live YieldCove watchlist, Alphabet Class A closed at $362.43, down $15.22, or 4.03%, from $377.65. Enphase Energy closed at $38.95, down $2.82, or 6.75%, from $41.77. These are verified regular-session moves from the same Cboe delayed-quote source. No single-company catalyst is assigned here because a closing-price feed establishes the move, not its cause; separating those two claims prevents a plausible narrative from being printed as fact.

For cash-secured puts, a falling share price changes the dollar collateral at a given moneyness and can reprice downside skew; for covered calls, it changes how far a strike sits above the stock. Neither closing move reveals the next session’s executable option market. Premiums are quoted per share, one standard contract normally represents 100 shares, and assignment exposure must be evaluated against the complete cash or stock commitment rather than the headline percentage alone.