dataphil › Brief archive › 2026-08-13

Defensive positioning builds as Asia shows mixed signals

Thursday, August 13, 2026 · 2 takes, written as the session ran and never rewritten with hindsight. Where a take stated something false, it is corrected and the original wording is shown under it.

The setup

Overnight tape, futures and the day's calendar · filed 06:46 ET

Defensive positioning builds as Asia shows mixed signals

Asian markets had a mixed session, with the KOSPI leading up 3.56% while the Hang Seng and ASX lagged, down 0.17% and 0.23% respectively. US futures are pointing higher, with the S&P 500 up 0.26% and the Nasdaq gaining 0.54%, suggesting a cautious risk-on tone as we head into the open. Watch today's Core PPI and PPI releases at 8:30 AM for signals on inflation trends.

What it was watching

Core PPI m/m est 0.3% — inflation gaugeS&P 500 testing 7750 — key resistanceNVDA at key levels ahead of earnings

The close

What the tape actually did · filed 17:26 ET

S&P 500 holds gains as tech leads the charge

The S&P 500 closed up 0.65%, with the Nasdaq outperforming at +0.81%. Tech stocks like AAPL and MSFT drove the rally, while WTI oil fell 2.47% to $81.21, reflecting concerns over demand. Tomorrow, watch for any further movement in tech, especially as earnings reports loom.

What it was watching

AAPL earnings AMC — implied move ~5%Core PCE m/m est 0.4% — Fed's preferred gaugeWatch $4.64 on the 10-year yield for direction

Elsewhere that session

Who on the Street was right → Semis vs SMH → The live dashboard →

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How this brief was made

Written Thursday, August 13, 2026 from that session's own market snapshot. Since October 7, 2026 every figure, name, time and rating action in a take is written by code from that snapshot, and a language model writes only the headline and the read around them, which are machine-checked against those facts before the take is filed. Takes before that date were written whole by the model and checked only for numbers and scheduled events. A take that aged badly is left standing on purpose: an archive rewritten with hindsight is not a record. The one thing that is changed is a statement that was false when it was written. That is corrected in the text, the original wording is shown under the take, and the change is logged on the corrections page. Not investment advice.

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