Markets News, July 24, 2026: Major Indexes Close Lower for the Week After Mixed Session on Friday as Chip Stocks Drop

Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow Close Lower for 2nd Consecutive Week

FROM 1 hr 2 min ago

All three major U.S. stock indexes have closed lower for a second straight week. 

The Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 2.1%, 0.6%, and 0.4%, respectively, over the five sessions. 

Prior to last week, all three hadn’t closed lower in the same week since June 5.

For the year, all three are up between 7% and 8.5%.

Why Experts Say Earnings Growth May Be Stalling—and What That Means For Stocks

FROM 2 hr 3 min ago

The 2026 earnings bonanza is at risk of being cut short, according to JPMorgan. 

“Earnings upgrades are plentiful, but the trend in revisions suggests the fuel may be running low,” wrote analysts led by Khuram Chaudry in a note on Thursday. Earnings expectations tend to move in tandem with stock prices, but the opposite has happened in recent weeks; earnings forecasts moved higher while the S&P 500 slipped. The divergence could be a warning that the strong profit growth booked in the first half of this year is fizzling out.

Two macroeconomic data points may signal an earnings slowdown ahead. The spread between the Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index—that is, the difference between the prices businesses pay and the prices consumers pay—is positively correlated with both sales and earnings revisions, but that spread has narrowed in recent months. If that trend continues, “the risk is that further rises in both EPS and Sales forecasts may be limited,” the analysts wrote.

Analysts are also concerned about the U.S. ISM order-to-inventories ratio, which tends to be a leading indicator of profit expectations. The reason is simple: orders outpace inventories when there’s more demand than supply, and vice versa. The ratio has declined for the past three months, echoing the narrowing inflation spread and suggesting “the upward march in Sales/EPS revisions could soon slow.”

Read the full article here.

–Colin Laidley 

Chip Stocks Slide Friday—Memory Favorites Micron, Sandisk Among the Big Decliners

FROM 3 hr 34 min ago

Semiconductor stocks are resuming their recent slide.

Several semiconductor stocks lost ground Friday, reversing gains earlier in the week when big chip buyers Alphabet (GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA) said they planned to invest heavily in AI. The PHLX Semiconductor index (SOX) was down 3% recently, as Broadcom (AVGO) and TSMC (TSM) fell 2% and Intel (INTC) tumbled more than 4% despite reporting quarterly results that blew past expectations on surging AI-related demand.

Shares of memory favorites Micron Technology (MU) and Sandisk (SNDK) were some of the biggest decliners in the S&P 500 Friday, with shares down 6% and 7%, respectively, on a day when the broader index gained. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) plunged 7%.

The moves could threaten to extend what’s been a tough few weeks for the sector amid a broader pullback in the AI trade, with the PHLX Semiconductor index’s recent slide leaving it nearly 20% off its June highs.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

Digital Realty Trust Helps Real Estate Lead S&P 500 Sector Gains Friday

FROM 3 hr 55 min ago

The S&P 500 Real Estate Sector is the top performer today of the 11 industries tracked by the benchmark index. It’s largely due to one stock.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) shares are up 13% Friday, the best individual performer in the overall S&P 500, after the Austin, Texas-based data center REIT posted record core funds from operation and raised its full-year core FFO per share outlook, as well as its constant-currency core FFO per share.

The S&P 500 Real Estate Sector is up 2.4%, roughly triple the gain of any other sector.

Ten of the 11 sectors are in the green today. The S&P 500 is up 0.3% overall.

Oracle Lands Pentagon Contract Worth Up to $7B

FROM 5 hr 27 min ago

Oracle (ORCL) landed a lucrative U.S. government contract after the bell yesterday. It’s not helping the stock overcome a tech selloff today.

Shares of Oracle declined 1% in late-morning trading Friday, a day after the Department of War announced it had offered the software and networking company a contract worth up to nearly $7 billion over 10 years to “streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the DOW and be available for ordering within the intelligence community and the Coast Guard.”

The contract is worth more than $3.3 billion for a five-year ordering period, but includes an option that would increase the total value to $6.99 billion if exercised.

Oracle shares had risen in premarket trading before falling after markets opened as tech stocks declined. The stock is down nearly 40% since the start of the year.

Alphabet Just Revealed Its Big Stake in SpaceX

FROM 7 hr 1 min ago

SpaceX’s list of shareholders includes a who’s who of big tech companies.

Google parent company Alphabet (GOOG) disclosed that it had a SpaceX (SPCX) stake worth about $94.1 billion as of the end of June, according to its second-quarter earnings report. Based on SpaceX’s market cap at the end of the second quarter, or $2.2 trillion, Alphabet’s investment represents about 4%.

Tesla (TSLA) also disclosed a stake in SpaceX, albeit a more modest one worth $3 billion, per its second-quarter earnings report. Nvidia (NVDA) and Cisco (CSCO), are also likely shareholders given their early investment in xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February.

Alphabet disclosed that it had two tranches of SpaceX shares, with $80 billion worth subject to “short-term restrictions on the ability to sell,” according to the company. The rest, or some $14.1 billion is restricted for trading through the end of September 2027, filings show.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

Bond Markets React to Iran Tensions With Higher Borrowing Costs

FROM 7 hr 28 min ago

The rekindling of the Iran war has the bond market worried about inflation again, driving up borrowing costs for homebuyers and businesses alike.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 6.58% this week, its highest level since last August, according to Freddie Mac. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield—a key input into mortgage rates and business borrowing costs—also soared to its highest level this year and breached 4.7% Thursday.

The sharp rise in yields follows hostilities in the Middle East, with the resumption of U.S.-Iran attacks and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen also striking Saudi Arabian oil tankers.

“Barring a near-term pullback in hostilities from both the U.S. and Iran, oil prices may stay higher for longer, renewing inflation concerns and sustaining the pressure” on bond yields, wrote John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics.

Read the full article here.

–Polo Rocha

Magnificent Seven Find Their Footing After $900 Billion Rout

FROM 8 hr 1 min ago

Mega-cap tech stocks stabilized after suffering one of their worst days in more than a year on Thursday.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Tesla (TSLA) were both up 1% in early trading, while Alphabet (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) each rose about 0.5%.

Alphabet and its hyperscaler peers tumbled on Thursday after the Google-parent’s capital expenditures guidance roused Wall Street’s perennial concerns about AI spending. Tesla plummeted 15% yesterday after its disappointing earnings report.

Cumulatively, the Magnificent Seven lost almost $900 billion in market value on Thursday, their worst day since last April’s tariff turmoil. 

–Colin Laidley 

SpaceX Dips After Test Flight Delay

FROM 8 hr 17 min ago

SpaceX (SPCX) stock continued its post-IPO slide, declining 1% in premarket trading on Friday after it delayed the thirteenth test flight of its Starship rocket for the second time in a week.

The test flight was originally scheduled for Thursday, July 17, but it was delayed a week by an engine problem.

The rescheduled test was pushed back a day due to unfavorable weather conditions.

After soaring in the days following its record-breaking IPO last month, SpaceX stock has spiraled back down to earth in the past month. Shares are poised to open Friday nearly 50% below their record high set a few days after the IPO.

–Colin Laidley 

American Express Slips After Mixed Q2 Report

FROM 8 hr 33 min ago

Shares of American Express (AXP) slid more than 3% after the credit card provider reported mixed second-quarter results.

The company posted higher-than-expected earnings of $4.53 per share, while revenue grew 10% to $19.64 billion, a little shy of Wall Street’s estimates.

Cardholder spending increased 9% last quarter, a sign consumers—especially the higher-income consumers who make up Amex’s core customer base—continued to spend despite resurgent inflation and economic uncertainty.

Amex raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 10% from a range of between 9% and 10%.

Amex shares were down 8% since the start of the year heading into Friday morning’s report.

–Colin Laidley 

New U.S. Tariffs Hit 60 Economies Over Forced Labor

FROM 8 hr 51 min ago

New U.S. tariffs on goods from 60 economies took effect at 12:01 a.m., aimed at trading partners the administration says refuse to block imports made with forced labor.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says it found that 54 of the 60 have no import ban at all, and six have bans they don’t enforce. The announcement sets tariffs at 12.5% on 38 economies, including China, Brazil, Russia, and Vietnam, and 10% on the others, among them Canada, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom. The lower rate went to economies the administration said had banned forced-labor imports, were committed to doing so in a trade agreement, or—in Britain’s case—had built a partial regime that blocks some of those goods.

On Tuesday the Budget Lab at Yale put the average statutory U.S. tariff rate as moving from 12.1% to 12.8% by year end should the administration put these new tariffs into effect.

Two nations face more than the headline rates announced last night. Brazil was already hit with a separate 25% tariff imposed last week over unrelated trade practices. And Canada’s 10% is the smaller of its problems: a 50% tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods is set to take effect in August. How the newly announced duties stack on those announced earlier is still unresolved.

–Peter Gratton

Experts Warned This Would Be a Volatile Earnings Season. So Far They’re Right

FROM 9 hr 10 min ago

Some Wall Street experts are warning investors could be in for a bumpier ride than usual this earning season.

Analysts at JPMorgan told clients in a note earlier this week that “options are pricing above-average earnings volatility” this quarter, “reflecting earnings uncertainty, high investor crowding and leverage, and potentially a returning geopolitical risk premium” as tensions flare in the Middle East.

High expectations for earnings growth could also set the stage for more-punishing reactions from investors if companies fail to impress, the bank said in an earlier note last week. “While our base case is that it will be cleared, there is higher risk of disappointment,” the analysts wrote.

JPMorgan warnings seem to be playing out, as post-earnings swings in shares of America’s most valuable companies rattle markets. Shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) fell 7% Thursday after the company said it plans to boost spending on its AI buildout this year, overshadowing better-than-expected results. Tesla’s (TSLA) stock plunged nearly 15%, hitting its lowest level in nearly a year after a profit miss.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

Intel Stock Jumps as Earnings Blow Past Expectations Amid Booming AI Demand

FROM 9 hr 42 min ago

Intel’s stock is soaring after another stronger-than-expected quarter.

Shares of Intel (INTC) were up 4% in premarket trading after the company posted earnings that blew past analysts’ estimates. Intel reported adjusted earnings per share of 42 cents on revenue that jumped 15% year-over-year to $16.1 billion, well above the adjusted EPS of 22 cents on revenue of $14.43 billion analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha called for.

The company said it expects third-quarter revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, and EPS of 38 cents, which are both well above the analyst consensus.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over the helm of the struggling chipmaker in March of 2025, said Intel recorded its strongest revenue growth in more than 15 years, thanks to strong demand for its AI hardware.

“AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network,” Tan said in a release.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

Stock Futures Point Higher to End Down Week as Oil Prices, Treasury Yields Decline

FROM 10 hr 15 min ago

Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5%.

S&P 500 futures pointed up 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures ticked 0.1% higher.