-- Gold prices fell from record highs in Asian trade on Thursday as a rally in the yellow metal cooled, with market focus remaining on U.S. interest rate cuts and brewing fears of a recession.

The homebuilder sector (XHB) is in focus as notable stocks continues to hold steady, though the impending Federal Reserve rate cuts raise questions about the impact on these companies. UBS US homebuilders & building products equity research analyst John Lovallo joins Market Domination to share his outlook. Lovallo notes that homebuilders have been highly focused on maintaining sales volume, but this quarter "they showed some restraint" amid interest rate volatility. "I think it's that pace versus price-type formula that builders are always trying to optimize, and I felt like they did a very good job this quarter in doing so," he tells Yahoo Finance. With high mortgage rates creating continued affordability issues, Lovallo notes that homebuilders have implemented effective incentives to attract homebuyers, such as mortgage rate buydowns. He notes that individuals purchasing homes from public homebuilders are often not paying the headline rate, but a lower one: "That is a tool that these folks have in their toolbox that the existing home market cannot compete with, and frankly the smaller private builders can't compete with either," Lovallo says. When discussing investment strategies, Lovallo names D.R. Horton (DHI) as a top pick, though he remains bullish across the homebuilder sector overall. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Angel Smith

Nvidia (NVDA) is recovering from the wider tech sell-off in early August, now back up over 30% since then. Is 2024's tech rally broadening out even further as more companies outperform the S&P 500 (^GSPC) market index? Yahoo Finance markets reporter Josh Schafer puts the tech sector — led by the Magnificent Seven names — into the greater context of the broadening summer rally. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Smart Beta ETF report for EPI

Invesco DWA Technology Momentum ETF, Strive U.S. Semiconductor ETF, Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF, VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF and ARK Genomic Revolution ETF are included in this Analyst Blog.

The gold market has seen a significant price increase, with gains of 21% in 2024 and 32% over the past year. While other commodities, including precious metals like silver and platinum, have struggled, palladium has seen significant declines. Unlike previous gold bull markets, this rally is occurring under unique circumstances, raising the question of what factors could potentially halt its upward trajectory.

-- Gold prices steadied in Asian trade on Wednesday after hitting record highs this week as the prospect of lower U.S. interest rates battered the dollar and spurred more flows into the yellow metal.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) snapped their eight-day win streak after closing Tuesday's session in negative territory. Stocks moved lower as volatility (^VIX) ticked higher ahead of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak on the direction of interest rates on Friday. Julie Hyman and Alexandra Canal recap the day's market action, including activity seen in Treasury yields, gold prices (GC=F), and tech leaders in the Nasdaq 100 (^NDX). For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

Solar energy and battery storage operator Sunrun (RUN) recently reported a milestone of 1 million household customers — estimated to equal about 3 million total individuals — an industry first. The rest of the solar industry has not performed as well, seemingly due to higher for longer interest rates. Sunrun CEO Mary Powell joins Asking For A Trend to give insight into the company's performance and the solar industry at large. Powell sets the scene for why solar has performed the way it has: "There were some interesting currents over the last couple of years. I would say the most powerful was the rapid rise in interest rates. And, you know, Sunrun, what we did is what great companies do, which is we just leaned right into the wind and said, 'We're going to come out stronger [on] the other side.' And we have emerged stronger from basically every metric you could look at." "The biggest tailwind... is the fact that utility rates are doing nothing but rising at the same time that reliability is going down. So cost is going up, the predictability and stability is going down," Powell explains to Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton. Sunrun's adaptability has allowed it to take on battery storage services along with electric vehicle charging for its customers. "We are moving very fast into a multi-product space meeting customers wherever they are on their clean energy journey," Powell says. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Asking for a Trend. This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino

US stock market averages (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) open Tuesday's session slightly lower, just below their flatlines. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 hope to continue their latest win streak after closing yesterday's session on their eighth-straight day of gains. Seana Smith, Brad Smith, and Jared Blikre examine the tech-driven rally that has propelled stocks forward in late August, noting the S&P 500 to have exited correction territory. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.