Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Wall Street mounted a robust broad-market rally on Tuesday, driven by dip-buying in the technology sector and cooling inflation data that lowered the probability of a July Fed rate hike to under 17%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the major averages, surging 1.29% to 25,837.207, while the S&P 500 added 0.89% to 7,509.2 and the Dow Jones climbed 0.74% to 52,224.64. Small-caps outperformed as the Russell 2000 jumped 1.53% to 2,987.395, and market anxiety cooled significantly with the VIX plunging 8.58% to 17.05.

Sectors in focus:

• Tech & Infrastructure: Computer Storage Devices (+9.41%) and Semiconductors & Related Devices (+6.93%) soared as investors bought the recent 10% correction in momentum stocks. Surging AI data center demand specifically boosted players like Micron (+12.8%) and Western Digital (+10.7%), dragging Electrical Industrial Apparatus (+7.86%) higher alongside them.
• Commodities: Gold and Silver Ores jumped 7.80% as physical Gold rose 1.66% to 4,082.6. Meanwhile, escalating Middle East tensions—including U.S. strikes on Iranian targets and a Houthi naval blockade on Saudi Arabia—pushed WTI Crude up 2.32% to 84.39.
• Laggards: Federally Chartered Savings Institutions took a sharp 7.42% hit, while Prepackaged Software (-2.02%) and Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (-1.96%) also dragged.

On the radar:

• Jul 22: Q2 earnings from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA)
• Jul 23: ECB interest rate decision and Intel (INTC) earnings
• Jul 28-29: FOMC meeting and interest rate decision
• Jul 30: US Q2 GDP (first estimate)
• Jul 31: June PCE Price Index (Fed's preferred inflation gauge)