News Bulletin
Friday, July 24, 2026
Evening Edition

Economic Numbers:

Time	Event	Actual	Forecast	Previous
Friday, July 24, 2026
8:00	Building Permits (Jun)	1.374M	1.367M	1.410M
9:45	S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Jul)	53.80	54.40	53.90
9:45	S&P Global Services PMI (Jul)	53.60	51.30	51.20
9:45	S&P Global Composite PMI (Jul)	53.60		51.90
10:00	New Home Sales (Jun)	628K	609K	618K
13:00	U.S. Baker Hughes Oil Rig Count	450.00		452.00
13:00	U.S. Baker Hughes Total Rig Count	587.00		588.00

Indices

	CLOSE	50 DMA	200 DMA
DJIA	51,947.25	51,446.64	48,899.61
NASDAQ	24,975.82	26,077.56	23,943.00
S&P 500	7,411.98	7,471.85	7,005.03

Earnings Calendar:

(EPS: Earning Per Share / Rev: Revenue / Mkt Cap: market Capital/ BMO: Before Market Opening /AMC: After Market Close)

COMPANY	EPS Act	EPS Fore	Rev Act	Rev Fore	Mkt Cap	Time
Exxon MobilXOM:US	-	3.66	-	110.25B	$607.48B	AM
American ExpressAXP:US	4.53	4.4	19.64B	19.66B	$224.41B	AM
VerizonVZ:US	1.3	1.27	34.3B	35.48B	$199.70B	AM
NextEra EnergyNEE:US	1.15	1.07	7.53B	8.17B	$197.55B	AM
HCAHCA:US	7.59	7.35	20.23B	19.42B	$117.10B	AM
SchlumbergerSLB:US	0.55	0.52	8.97B	8.67B	$79.50B	AM
Charter CommunicationsCHTR:US	10.66	10.22	13.5B	13.54B	$26.57B	AM
RPM InternationalRPM:US	-	-	-	-	$13.69B
Healthpeak Properties IncDOC:US	-	-	-	-	$11.55B
Booz Allen HamiltonBAH:US	1.81	1.49	2.8B	2.81B	$9.84B	AM
EnsignENSG:US	-	1.84	-	1.43B	$9.71B
GentexGNTX:US	0.58	0.49	651.3M	664.97M	$5.67B	AM
Lamb Weston HoldingsLW:US	0.87	0.64	1.77B	1.76B	$5.56B	AM
BalchemBCPC:US	-	1.31	-	268.5M	$5.25B
DanaDAN:US	-	0.62	-	1.92B	$5.19B	AM
Tfs FinancialTFSL:US	-	0.08	-	85.87M	$5.13B
Flagstar FinancialNYCB:US	0.05	0.07	516M	543.62M	$4.31B	AM
Sensient TechnologiesSXT:US	1.2	1.04	462.1M	449.72M	$4.20B	AM
Netscout SystemsNTCT:US	-	0.38	-	196.17M	$2.84B	AM
ChemoursCC:US	-	0.49	-	1.65B	$2.70B	PM
TriNetTNET:US	-	0.93	-	1.18B	$2.31B
Liberty GlobalLBTYA:US	-	-	-	-	$2.08B	AM
Arbor RealtyABR:US	-	0.07	-	115.98M	$1.37B	AM
Piper Sandler CompaniesPJC:US	-	0.9	-	452.97M	$1.36B	AM
CartersCRI:US	-	0.06	-	606.93M	$1.34B
Bloomin' BrandsBLMN:US	-	0.29	-	1B	$688.10M	AM

Market News:

Wall Street on Friday ended mixed in a meandering session, as a decline in oil prices and a surge in the real estate sector was offset by a fall in chip stocks.

Markets also posted a weekly loss, dragged down by the widening conflict in the Middle East, concerns over heavy capital spending by major names such as Alphabet and Tesla on artificial intelligence infrastructure, and a resurgence in trade tensions after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs.

Traders were looking ahead to a crucial next week which will be highlighted by the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision and a deluge of quarterly earnings.

The benchmark S&P 500 index climbed 0.1% to close at 7,412.62 points, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to settle at 51,946.51 points. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite shed 0.6% to conclude at 24,975.82 points.

For the week, the S&P slipped 0.6%, the Nasdaq 2.1%, and the Dow 0.4%.

Oil gets a reprieve a day after Brent topped $100

Wall Street slumped on Thursday, partly due to soaring oil prices after Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen said they had launched attacks at Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea.

The Houthis pose a danger to ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another key chokepoint in the region apart from the Strait of Hormuz. With both vital waterways under threat, worries over oil supply disruptions were exacerbated, boosting Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, to above $100 a barrel.

Crude benchmarks fell on Friday, taking a breather after their sharp advance. For the week, however, Brent was on track for an outsized gain of about 11%, bringing inflationary jitters back to the table which could persuade central banks, including the Fed, to tighten monetary policy in response. Inflationary concerns have also been reflected most clearly in a recent surge in U.S. Treasury yields as traders have dumped government bonds.

Kpler said maritime activity was mixed across both straits on Thursday.

"Strait of Hormuz traffic fell to six confirmed crossings, down 60 per cent from the previous day" while "Bab el-Mandeb traffic increased to 49 confirmed crossings, including five sanctioned and 11 shadow fleet vessels, alongside four dark transits," the shipping tracker said.

"Several ships that had previously reversed course in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea completed their crossings, while others remain on hold following earlier U turns. The data points to a cautious but selective return to transit activity as operators continue to assess security conditions," Kpler added.

Meanwhile, fighting between the U.S. and Iran showed little signs of stopping. U.S. Central Command on Thursday said it had completed a 13th straight night of strikes against Iran. Tehran has responded by targeting U.S. military bases primarily in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan.

Mediation efforts also appear to be failing, after the New York Times reported that Iran had rejected a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal delivered by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, citing Iranian and Iraqi officials. According to the report, Tehran said it was unwilling to accept a temporary deal that left unresolved the issue of control over the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal was said to be the only ceasefire offer currently under consideration.

Iraq’s prime minister’s office said the report was "entirely unfounded" and bore "no relation to reality."

Chip stocks bounce back from bear market territory

Turning away from the Middle East, the AI trade was a key catalyst this week amid a dearth of economic data and the Fed’s communications blackout.

The AI boom earlier this year helped Wall Street shake off the Middle East conflict and return to record levels. Chip stocks, one of the main contributors to the rally, drove the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index to a historic 18-day win streak in April and a record close of 14,634.70 points on June 22. But the gauge has seen a sharp pullback since, and last Friday it settled in bear market territory. This week, it rebounded with a gain of 1.2%.

However, the bounce back was largely driven by technical buying after such a sharp decline. The overall picture remains one of caution as investors fret over about massive valuations and uncertain returns from the billions of dollars being poured into AI infrastructure, or the combined hardware and software stack needed to handle massive data and computing power used to build and train AI processes.

Alphabet and Tesla’s quarterly reports on Wednesday has been keenly anticipated for further cues on the AI trade. The reports did little to calm concerns, after the Google-parent reported its first quarterly cash burn on record and the electric vehicle manufacturer announced quarterly negative free cash flow for the first time since Q1 2024.

In a bright spot, results from Intel appeared to offer at least a glimpse into the benefits of the AI boom. The U.S. chipmaker posted second-quarter returns that surpassed expectations, due partially to demand for its chips used in cutting-edge AI agents.

Trump imposes new tariffs

Elsewhere, trade tensions were reignited this week and played their part in dampening sentiment. President Donald Trump imposed new double-digit tariffs on imports from 60 of the top trading partners of the U.S., just days after hitting Canada with an additional 50% tariffs. The efforts represent the White House’s latest bid to wrench back control over an aggressive international trade stance that has been rebuffed in court.

The latest tariffs, which range from 10% to 12.5%, take the place of a global 10% levy which has now expired, with the Trump administration arguing that the charges are necessary because U.S. trading partners have not adequately enforced bans on items produced by forced labor.

Notably, two major U.S. trading partners - Canada and the European Union - are subject to 10% tariffs under the arrangement, despite both having laws prohibiting the importation of forced labor goods. The U.S. said the tariffs were imposed after conducting investigations into all 60 economies.

Trump had previously employed the 10% worldwide tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping emergency economic powers duties in a landmark decision in February. As justification for the fresh levies, the president is using a section of a U.S. trade act from 1974 which allows the White House to set import taxes and other sanctions on countries deemed to engaging in "unjustifiable" or "discriminatory" trade practices.

"The forced labor action is a clear abuse of the law and a serious departure from past U.S. government practice - even under President Trump. By no reasonable measure can it be considered anything other than a ham-fisted way to reinstall Trump’s tariff wall and protect it from another IEEPA-like defeat in federal court," Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute, said.

"In the latter case, the administration might be successful: Section 301 is more legally durable than the untested IEEPA and, while the forced labor action is obviously flimsy, a court might simply be unwilling to question the president’s determinations and actions. We shall see," he added.

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