Market Review: July 27, 2026

Closing Recap

Monday, July 27, 2026

U.S. stocks finished mixed as the Dow and Russell 2000 finished higher, while the S&P 500 index was little changed and the Nasdaq Comp finished lower amid a further pullback in the semi index (SOX) which is down -20% this month but still up around -6% for the year. The Technology sector in the S&P (XLK) is down over -9% this month and on track for its worst month since September 2022 on the aforementioned semi weakness. Wall Street now braces for a big week of earnings, with over 1/3 of the S&P 500 reporting, including top tech firms AAPL, AMZN, META and MSFT in a week dominated by Industrials, TMT and Financials. This week another 169 S&P 500 companies are slated to report; followed by another 132 firms report the week of Aug. 3rd. With 133 or about 27% of the firms in the S&P 500 index having reported, second quarter earnings are surprising to the upside. Profits are up nearly 70% from a year earlier on revenue growth of 12.6%. Lots of chop today as investors and Wall Street await for key catalysts starting mid-week as the party starts at 2:00 PM et on Wednesday, the FOMC holds its interest rate policy meeting (low chance of rate hike as generally expected to hold rates). Then earnings from META, MSFT Wednesday night, core PCE inflation and 2Q GDP print on Thursday morning at 8:30 am et, and then AAPL, AMZN earnings on Thursday night to round out the week. The FOMC meeting looms for Wednesday July 29. The reigniting of military action in the Middle East has pushed up oil prices and yields in tandem which means the Fed heads into their July meeting unable to relax, even after the softer June CPI/PPI data. The Fed of course has missed its mark for inflation for 64 months now. Chair Warsh has set up his task forces and still has Jackson Hole ahead in late August.

• Dallas Fed Texas manufacturing index of general business activity 1.3 in July vs 0.0 in June; Dallas Fed Texas manufacturing output index 10.1 in July vs 4.1 in June.

• Natural gas futures slid about 4% to an 11-week low on Monday on record output; futures down more than 15% so far this month; nat gas fell 10.4 cents, or 3.6%, to settle at $2.767 per million British thermal units
• Gold prices were little changed, as August gold edged higher $6.20 or 0.15% to settle at $4,077 an ounce while September silver slipped -$0.19 or 0.33% to 458.71 an ounce.

• Airlines: the sector rallied as oil prices tumbled, lifting the group; also, the WSJ reported UAL had approached DAL last year about a merger that would have combined the two most valuable U.S. carriers, according to people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported. https://tinyurl.com/f2mh3zr3

• CAPR shares tumbled after saying FDA staff reviewers raised concerns about whether its cell therapy, deramiocel, has sufficient evidence of effectiveness for treating cardiomyopathy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The FDA last year declined to approve the muscle disorder drug, citing lack of efficacy data.
• EIKN shares rose early after the company dosed the first patient in a key registrational trial for its first-line therapy lung cancer treatment; said the first patient has been dosed in the phase 2/3 TeLuRide-008 registrational study evaluating EIK1001 in combination with pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in NSCLC.
• FBRX shares jumped as agreed to be acquired by immunology company ARGX for about $2.2 billion. Argenx is paying $77 a share in cash for Forte, a roughly 41% premium to Friday’s closing price of $54.78 (shares of TRAX jumped in sympathy which has a lead program, ANB033, that is also a novel anti-CD122 antagonist).
• LEGN shares fell after saying Ying Huang has stepped down as chief executive officer and as a member of the board of directors, effective as of July 24, 2026.
• MPLT shares tumbled; said phase 2 zephyr trial of ml-007c-ma meets primary endpoint in schizophrenia, but Adam Feuerstein of STAT news noted “Phase 2 results in schizophrenia appear to have fallen short of the "better Cobenfy" Bar. 4.5 point relative improvement on PANSS" (vs. expectations of HSD range)
• OMER shares bounced in reaction to AZN phase 3 failure of Ultomiris (ravulizumab) to treat transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy. Note Omeros markets Yartemlea (narsoplimab), which is approved for hematopoietic stem cell transplant–associated thrombotic microangiopathy.
• SRPT appoints former ABBV executive Michael Severino, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as Doug Ingram to retire and serve as advisor until end of 2026.

• Aerospace sector: RKLB secured its largest launch contract to date—a $266M multi-launch award from the U.S. Space Force. The contract, awarded under the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command’s Rocket Systems Launch Program, covers 12 suborbital launches, with an option for up to six additional missions. TDG signed a deal to buy Prince & Izant for about $1.07 billion in cash, adding a specialty metal components manufacturer to the aircraft-component maker’s portfolio.
• In Metals & Mining: gold miners early strength on bounce in gold prices; VALE was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs and cut tgt to $16 from $18 as sees limited catalysts in the near-term and expects prices for Vale’s metals to be flat to down. President Trump aims to end U.S. reliance on Chinese critical minerals by January 2027, but industry leaders warn domestic supply is nowhere near ready. Despite billions in government support, the U.S. still lacks enough mining and processing capacity, while China controls over 80% of rare earth refining – Bloomberg (critical mineral producers MP, CRML, METC, etc.)

• Satellite/telecom sector: SPCX shares fall again hitting new all-time lows below $110; reports indicated AMZN has filed plans with the FCC for a Constellation of more than 5,100 satellites that would provide direct-to-device (D2D) services using Globalstar spectrum. In an application filed with the FCC late July 24, Amazon sought permission to deploy a Constellation of 5,105 satellites in low Earth orbit providing services directly to smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) Devices using spectrum bands at 1.6 and 2.4 gigahertz.
• Media sector: CMCSA’s NBCUniversal and GOOGL‘s YouTube have reached a deal that will bring the Peacock streaming service to YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S. and also extend its distribution agreement with YouTube TV. YouTube Premium, a paid-for service, has more than 125 million global subscribers, overshadowing Peacock’s 48 million in the U.S.
• EDA Sector: SNPS expanded its INTC Foundry collaboration with full certification of AI-powered EDA flows on the 14A process. Early insight into power, thermal and electromagnetic effects

• ASML shares declined after a report in The Information noted that China starts mass-producing homegrown DUV chipmaking tools, an advance for local chip industry. The company is making Immersion deep ultraviolet lithography Machines, a key type of Equipment used by chipmakers such as TSM
• NVDA in talks with OpenAI to guarantee $250 Billion financing for Data Center reported the WSJ; the project would be one of the largest AI computing hubs and involve power controlled by the U.S. government. The $250B covers the lease and debt financing — not the chips per the report.
• Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) said it struck a pact with U.S. chip designer AVGO to widen cooperation across memory chips, contract chip making and advanced packaging envisaged to exceed $200 billion until 2030.
• Michael Burry disclosed new portfolio changes on Substack, adding to short positions in MU and NVDA while also also increased long holdings in FLUT and DKNG, reflecting a more selective positioning outside the semiconductor sector
• MBLY was upgraded from Neutral to Overweight at Piper saying it is nearing floor valuation while seizing control of its own destiny. MBLY sold off sharply, at one point by ~20%, following the Q2 call last week but the firm is encouraged by MBLY’s decision to deploy its own humanoids and Robo-taxis.
• MCHP announced its intent to acquire private Hailo AI for undisclosed financial terms, with expectations for the deal to close by the end of its Sep Q. Hailo AI is expected to add processing capabilities across edge AI accelerators, vision SoCs, and software tooling