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Wall Street ends mixed as investors focus on tech earnings

  • Summary

  • Companies

  • Investors await earnings from AI heavyweights

  • Fed rate decision due on Wednesday

  • Chip index adds to recent losses

  • S&P 500 +0.02%, Nasdaq -0.18%, Dow +0.51%

July 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended mixed on Monday, as investors awaited guidance from major technology companies in a busy week for ​quarterly earnings, while also worrying that stubbornly high oil prices could force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab, ‌Meta (META.O), opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab are set to report quarterly results this week. Investors were questioning whether a multi-year rally fueled by optimism about artificial intelligence may be losing steam.

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Investors last week were spooked by quarterly results from Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab that showed heavy spending on artificial intelligence.

Walmart (WMT.O), opens new tab rose 2.1%, Microsoft added 1.9% and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), opens new tab rose 1%, ​with all three helping keep the S&P 500 in positive territory.

On Monday, crude fell to a one-week low as U.S. President ​Donald Trump said Washington was having "good talks" with Iran and there was a chance of a peace deal, but warned ⁠U.S. strikes would resume if the negotiations failed to deliver. Oil prices surged last week, with Brent futures surpassing $100 a barrel, after new strikes ​on shipping in the Middle East.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by consumer staples (.SPLRCS), opens new tab, up 1.58%, followed by a 1.25% ​gain in information technology (.SPLRCT), opens new tab.

The PHLX chip index (.SOX), opens new tab extended its recent selloff, falling 2.2%. It is down 21% from its record high close on June 22 and remains up 63% in 2026.

Chinese chipmaker CXMT Corp's (688825.SS), opens new tab stellar debut on Monday and a report that the country has started manufacturing homegrown DUV chipmaking tools also signaled intensifying competition for the U.S. semiconductor industry.

"Today ​represents a continuation of the rotational market that we've seen," said Bill Merz, head of capital markets research and portfolio construction at U.S. Bank ​Asset Management Group. "Part of the market reaction may be related to that creeping suspicion that perhaps a rate hike is coming."

S&P 500's forward PE is down in recent months

Item 1 of 3 A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 24, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

[1/3] A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 24, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

The S&P 500 edged up 0.02% ‌to end ⁠the session at 7,413.18 points.

The Nasdaq declined 0.18% to 24,932.08 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.51% to 52,210.08 points.

Brent crude prices slid 8% to about $89 a barrel after Washington abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran on Saturday in Trump's latest strategic U-turn in the five-month-old conflict.

Oil company shares declined. Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), opens new tab fell 4.1% and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab closed down 1.4%.

The Fed's monetary policy decision is due on Wednesday and traders ​are projecting a 62% chance the ​central bank will leave rates ⁠unchanged, with a 38% chance of a 25-basis-point hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index for June is due a day after the central bank's decision and will be key in shaping ​market expectations for interest rates later this year.

Analysts on average expect S&P 500 aggregate second-quarter earnings to ​jump 39% from a ⁠year ago, with AI-related stocks accounting for much of that growth, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.

The S&P 500 is trading at around 20 times expected earnings, compared to a 10-year average of 20, according to LSEG data.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX), opens new tab by a 1.9-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 ⁠posted 30 new ​highs and three new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 15.8 ​billion shares traded, compared to an average of 18.2 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Ragini ​Mathur in Bengaluru, by Sinéad Carew in New York and by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Joyjeet Das and David Gregorio

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Noel Randewich

Thomson Reuters

San Francisco correspondent covering the stock market with a focus on Big Tech, semiconductors and other Silicon Valley companies

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category · July 28, 2026 · 12:36 AM UTC · ago

The U.S. dollar held at a one-month high on Tuesday as traders weighed a slim but lingering chance ‌of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting, even as falling oil prices eased some concerns over inflation.

12:31 AM UTC

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Read Original at Reuters →