Market Index Summary
U.S. stock indexes concluded a week marked by significant volatility, finishing with mixed results overall. While the three major benchmarks closed higher on Friday—the Nasdaq Composite increased 1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%—their performance over the entire month of July was varied. Over the five trading sessions, all indices posted gains: the Dow rose 1%, the S&P 500 climbed 1%, and the Nasdaq increased 1.6%. However, for the full month, the Nasdaq saw a decline of 3.2%, the S&P 500 fell slightly by 0.1%, while the Dow recorded a modest gain of 0.3%.
Key Stock Movements and Sector Trends
Individual stocks experienced wide swings on Friday, driven by earnings reports and guidance updates. Amazon (AMZN) shares surged nearly 16%, following strong results from the cloud computing division. In contrast, Apple (AAPL) stock dropped 7% after the company reported weaker-than-expected revenue from its services segment, contributing to a decline in both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices.
Other notable corporate movements included Microsoft (MSFT), which rose 3%, a day after having surged 16% on preceding earnings reports. This Thursday rally added $450 billion to the company’s market capitalization, marking a one-day record for any firm. Meta Platforms (META) also finished more than 3% higher after declining by 8% during the previous trading day.
Commodities and Macroeconomics
Financial indicators provided mixed signals across commodities and interest rates. The 10-year Treasury yield was observed at 4.73% by 4 p.m. ET, having ticked up from the previous day’s close below 4.68%, and reaching its highest level since January 2025 earlier in the day.
Oil prices increased as traders monitored developments in the Middle East. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 1.4% to $84.80 a barrel, while global Brent crude futures advanced 1.2% to exceed $90. These figures contrasted with the week’s performance, as both WTI and Brent saw drops of approximately 5% and 9%, respectively.
In other markets, Bitcoin was trading near $62,900, down from overnight highs around $65,300. The U.S. dollar index edged higher to 99.93 against a basket of foreign currencies. Gold futures declined by 1.3%, settling at $4,105 an ounce.
Company-Specific Updates
Several companies saw significant shifts based on recent reports:
- GoDaddy (GDDY): Shares declined 15% on Friday after the website domain provider narrowed its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance range to between $5.215 billion and $5.255 billion, with the midpoint falling below Visible Alpha’s consensus estimate of $5.24 billion.
- Novo Nordisk (NVO): U.S.-listed shares fell 11% premarket after the Danish pharmaceutical company announced that its drug ziltivekimab failed to achieve major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) risk reduction versus placebo in participants with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and inflammation, despite demonstrating target engagement.
- Coinbase Global (COIN): Shares dropped approximately 15% on Friday afternoon after the public crypto exchange released second-quarter results that missed analyst forecasts. The company reported revenue of $1.22 billion, falling short of the expected $1.29 billion, and posted a net loss of $359.5 million, compared to the estimated $120.7 million.
- Reddit: Despite surpassing analysts’ predictions for Q2 earnings (reporting $1.25 per share versus the expected $0.97), shares fell 22% on Friday. This followed a warning from co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman that “search referrals were choppy in the quarter, and traffic was more volatile later in the quarter.”
- Tesla/SpaceX: Speculation regarding a potential merger between Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX) remains active. Reports indicated Elon Musk reportedly told Tesla executives to prepare for separating the electric vehicle maker’s Chinese business from its U.S. operations, potentially clearing an obstacle for a future combination.
- Palantir (PLTR): Ahead of expected earnings reports on Monday, analysts noted that trading options suggested significant potential movement, with shares anticipated to move up or down by as much as 10% by the end of the week.
