Monday, July 20, 2026

Wall Street started the week in the red as geopolitical escalations in the Middle East and rising Treasury yields pressured broader risk sentiment. US airstrikes against Iran and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz pushed WTI Crude up 0.87% to 82.49, dragging the Dow Jones down 0.59% to finish at 51,839.26. The S&P 500 slipped 0.19% to 7,443.28 and the Nasdaq dipped a modest 0.05% to 25,508.072 as megacap tech names steadied following last week's sharp rotation, while the small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 0.67% to 2,942.429.

Sectors in focus:

• Finance Services (+4.36%): Easily paced the market as industry heavyweights reported record assets and a surge in AI-driven dealmaking and IPOs.
• Aircraft (+3.92%): Rallied on the opening of the Farnborough Airshow, bolstered by massive orders including SMBC Aviation Capital's deal for 100 Boeing 737 MAX and 100 Airbus A320neo jets.
• Healthcare Laggards: Ophthalmic Goods (-4.29%) and Services-Medical Laboratories (-3.45%) tumbled as investors shed high-valuation clinical names ahead of binary regulatory decisions.
• Macro Headwinds: Sector breadth was constrained as resilient retail sales and higher energy costs pushed 10-year Treasury yields to 4.6%, complicating the policy path for Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.

On the radar:

• Jul 21: Q2 earnings from megacaps Alphabet (GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA)
• Jul 22: Earnings reports from IBM and ServiceNow (NOW)
• Jul 23: Intel (INTC) earnings and Weekly Jobless Claims
• Jul 24: S&P Global Flash PMI and New Home Sales data
• Jul 28-29: The pivotal FOMC Meeting and interest rate decision