Friday, July 24, 2026

Wall Street ended a mixed Friday session as investors rotated out of tech and into blue-chip names, stabilizing markets after the previous day's sharp 500-point sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the major averages, climbing 0.46% to close at 51,947.25, while the S&P 500 managed a 0.05% gain to finish at 7,411.98. Conversely, the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.64% to 24,975.824, and the Russell 2000 slipped 0.35% to 2,929.999. The VIX eased 0.64% to 18.58 as Treasury yields stabilized near 4.69%, providing a much-needed reprieve for value-oriented sectors.

Sectors in focus:

• Tech & Manufacturing: Semiconductors (-5.81%) and Printed Circuit Boards (-5.08%) dragged down the Nasdaq. Investors heavily penalized AI capital expenditures following recent Alphabet and Tesla reports, overshadowing a solid revenue beat from Intel.
• Defensives & Rebounders: Benefiting from the rotation and stabilized yields, General Medical & Surgical Hospitals surged 5.42%, while Fire, Marine & Casualty Insurance jumped 3.53%.
• Energy & Trade: WTI Crude dropped 1.92% to 90.42 per barrel as supply disruption fears faded on reports of potential U.S.-Iran peace negotiations mediated by Pakistan. Gold ticked up 0.17% to 4,056.9. Meanwhile, markets digested news that the Trump administration imposed new 10% to 12.5% tariffs on 60 trading partners under Section 301.

On the radar: Next week brings a massive slate of central bank action and mega-cap tech earnings:

• Jul 28: Earnings from Microsoft (MSFT), UPS, and McDonald's.
• Jul 29: FOMC interest rate decision and a highly anticipated press conference from Chair Kevin Warsh, alongside earnings from Meta Platforms (META), Arm Holdings, and Starbucks.
• Jul 30: Advance Q2 GDP estimate (consensus at 2.3%), Initial Jobless Claims, and after-the-bell reports from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN).
• Jul 31: June Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index data.