Key Highlights
- European shares traded largely flat on Monday as investors weighed diplomatic efforts in the Middle East that cooled global energy markets and triggered a late-session reversal. The pan‑European finished flat after bouncing into positive territory, while London’s fell 0.4% and Germany’s and France’s were also flat, following a morning selloff tied to the ninth day of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
- China tech stocks gained as domestic AI models rival U.S. leaders, while South Korea’s tumbled 4.5% as foreign investors accelerated a rotation out of memory chip stocks. South China Morning Post said foreigners have pulled $110 billion from Seoul YTD, and last week’s sell-off with and each plunging 12%.
- Oil prices were steady on Monday, easing from earlier one-month highs as hopes for renewed U.S.-Iran talks eased some pressure, while escalation risks persisted after Yemen’s Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, raising concerns about Strait of Hormuz shipments.
- slipped on Monday as rising Middle East tensions raised oil-market concerns while Fed officials’ comments that more rate hikes may be needed kept traders cautious; at 11:25 ET (15:25 GMT) was down 0.08% at $4,015.21/oz and futures were flat at $4,019.60/oz after bullion fell over 2% last week.
- The dollar rose as investors monitored developments in the Iran war, while the eased from earlier highs ahead of new British Andy Burnham; the climbed 0.17% to 100.91 and the euro fell 0.23% to $1.1413.
U.S. stocks pared opening gains to trade mixed on Monday as investors refocused on a ramping earnings season and rising Middle East tensions amid a light week of economic data and the Fed’s communications blackout.
At 11:32 ET the S&P 500 was up 0.36% at 7,484.50, the rose 0.77% to 25,667.12, and the was down 0.19% at 52,052.19.
US Economic Data and Earnings Calendar
With a light economic calendar this week, Wall Street is shifting focus to a packed corporate earnings schedule that could steer the market’s next direction.
Although the economic calendar is light, key reports that could sway markets include preliminary PMI surveys for manufacturing and services, June leading economic indicators, and June new home sales.
Earnings season heats up this week with Big Tech in the spotlight. High-profile companies including Tesla (led by Elon Musk), American Express, Philip Morris, and will report, offering clues on consumer demand, corporate spending and the broader economy.
Economic Calendar: (Week of July 20 – 24)
Mon 07/20:
Tue 07/21:
Wed 07/22:
- ; MBA Mortgage Applications Index
Thu 07/23: C
- ; EIA Natural Gas Inventories;
Fri 07/24:
https://www.investing.com/economic-calendar, a more detailed calendar
Key Earnings Calendar: (Week of July 20 – 24)
Mon 07/20:
AGNC (AGNC), Crown Holdings (CCK), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Ryanair (RYAAY), Steel Dynamics (STLD), W.R. Berkley (WRB), Zions Bancorporation (ZION).
Tue 07/21:
Capital One (COF), Chubb (CB), Danaher (DHR), D.R. Horton (DHI), EQT (EQT), General Motors (GM), Halliburton (HAL), Interactive Brokers (IBKR), KeyCorp (KEY), Marsh & McLennan (MMC), 3M (MMM), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Novartis (NVS)
Wed 07/22:
Alphabet (), AT&T (T), CME Group (CME), CSX (CSX), Equinor (EQNR), GE Vernova (GEV), Moody’s (MCO), Philip Morris (PM), ServiceNow (NOW), Tesla (), Texas Instruments (), United Rentals (URI), Waste Connections (WCN)
Thu 07/23:
Blackstone (BX), Comcast (CMCSA), Comfort Systems (FIX), Digital Realty (DLR), Edwards Lifesciences (EW), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Hartford (HIG), Honeywell (HON), Intel (), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Newmont (NEM), Norfolk Southern (NSC), RTX (RTX), SAP (SAP), T‑Mobile (TMUS), Union Pacific (UNP)
Fri 07/24:
American Express (), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), Canadian National Railway (CNI), Charter Communications (CHTR), NextEra Energy (NEE), SLB (SLB), Tenet Healthcare (THC), Verizon (VZ)
https://www.investing.com/earnings-calendar, a more detailed calendar
Alphabet (GOOGL), owner of Google and YouTube, reports Q2 after Wednesday’s close, weeks after selling stock to fund AI data-center builds. Analysts forecast EPS up 24% on revenue +21% (earnings have averaged 43% growth over the past four quarters).
Investors will focus on core search and cloud results. A cloud revenue beat and stronger order-backlog growth (including TPU chip sales) could move the stock and on management’s update to capital spending and whether enterprise customers are shifting from Gemini to lower‑cost Chinese open‑source models. Alphabet shares are currently basing and are up about 10% year‑to‑date.
Tesla (TSLA) reports earnings late Wednesday, shifting focus back from SpaceX. Investors will watch for updates on the robotaxi rollout and Optimus production. Q2 deliveries beat expectations, but the impact on the income statement is unclear. Analysts project revenue of $26.07 billion and net income of $1.78 billion, with Wall Street looking for GAAP EPS of $0.32. The quarter may show a jump in capex; management guides roughly $25 billion for the year, contributing to an estimated $3.2 billion negative cash flow.
Intel (INTC) will report Q2 results late Thursday. Analysts expect earnings of $0.21 a share versus a loss of $0.10 a year earlier and forecast revenue up 12% year‑over‑year to $14.42 billion (after a 7% gain in Q1). Intel is also projected to sustain double‑digit sales growth for at least the next six quarters. Other chipmakers reporting this week include MaxLinear (), icroelectronics (STM) and Texas Instruments (TXN).
Weekly US Indices Probability Map
- The U.S. weekly market probability map for July 20 – 24, 2026 suggests “Heading into a bearish week — heavy earnings in tech, semis, telecom, industrials & financials. Expect volatility!”.
- July historically strong: since 2007 DJIA +2.32% avg in 85% of years; Nasdaq +3.11% avg in 75%; S&P 500 +2.41% avg in 75%.
- Sentiment readings are derived from a seasonality-based scoring system.
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Ali Merchant is a seasoned financial market professional with expertise in Technical Analysis, Treasury & Capital Markets, Trading, Sales, Research, Training, & Fund Management. He is the founder of www.twtlearning.com providing financial education, research and advisory services to fund & hedge fund managers and family offices.
He has been trading FX, FX options, US stocks & options, Indices, Commodities & Oil, and Metals Futures. He has a CMT charter, an AAPTA membership, and a CMT Canada membership. He has worked in various roles and organizations in North America and the GCC, such as ABN Amro bank, Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, MAK Allen & Day Capital Partners, and Bridge Information Systems.
He is regarded as an excellent mentor and has trained more than 2000+ users in North America, Gulf countries & Asia on financial markets & products, active and passive trading, and technical analysis strategies. He emanated technical analysis daily and weekly reports for BridgeNews Chicago bureau and updated technical analysis reports on Bloomberg and Reuters while working with ABN Amro bank treasury & capital markets. Has moderated and produced technical analysis reports for Thomson Reuters (Refinitiv) users’ chat rooms and trained users on technical analysis techniques and models. Conducted TA & Global Markets outlook workshop with central banks, sovereign funds, global & regional banks & family offices.