Stocks Under Pressure Early Ahead of Fed Decision
Published as of: July 29, 2026, 9:08 a.m. ET
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| The markets | Last price | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500® Index | 7,428.78 | +15.60 | +0.21% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average® | 52,747.32 | +537.24 | +1.03% |
| Nasdaq Composite® | 24,876.91 | -55.17 | -0.22% |
| 10-year Treasury yield | 4.62% | +0.02 | -- |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 101.46 | +0.39 | +0.04% |
| Cboe Volatility Index® | 18.70 | +0.49 | +2.69% |
| WTI Crude Oil | $84.15 | +$4.89 | +6.17% |
| Bitcoin | $64,300 | +$430 | +0.67% |
(Wednesday market open) The Dow Jones Industrial Average was poised to fall at the open while the other major indexes were little changed as investors digested a wave of earnings reports ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision this afternoon. Oil prices rose on renewed hostilities in the Middle East.
The market expects the Fed to hold steady today, but it's not a certain outcome. Earnings season also picks up, with Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) reporting after the bell. Investors have turned more skeptical toward hyperscalers, and will be seeking clearer evidence that spending discipline, monetization, and free cash flow can support valuations.
The major indexes finished mixed Tuesday. The Dow gained 1%, fueled by falling oil prices, a raft of strong earnings reports, and a continuing rotation from semiconductors to other market sectors. The selling of chip stocks drove the Nasdaq moderately lower but it closed well off its lows for the day. The Nasdaq narrowly avoided entering a correction, defined as a 10% drop from a recent peak. Pressure on semiconductors sent South Korea's stock market diving as much as 12.6% overnight, triggering "circuit breakers." That market ended down nearly 6%.
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Three things to watch
- Fed meeting comes with unusual uncertainty: The Fed is expected to keep its policy rate unchanged today, but the market's level of uncertainty about the outcome on the morning of the meeting is relatively high. That's partly because Warsh has abandoned forward guidance. But it's also because the Fed is in a tough spot. Lately, measures of core inflation have been above 3% and moving away from the Fed's 2% target, while labor markets have merely been stabilizing. Spiking oil prices are a wild card, generating concern and providing reprieves. Hawkish talk from board members is on the rise, and the market now sees a 76% chance of a hike in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. If the Fed stands pat today, look for dissenting votes, whether the statement emphasizes oil, tariffs, or the AI buildout, and any language from Warsh on how restrictive he thinks the current policy rate is.
- Investors face a tricky market moment: Multiple crosscurrents could keep market volatility elevated in the short term, starting with today's Fed rate decision and guidance. Meanwhile, the macro backdrop is mixed but not clearly risk-off. Conditions remain broadly supportive, and a pause in fighting in the Middle East has helped lower oil prices, at least temporarily removing an immediate pressure point for inflation-sensitive assets. Yet semiconductors remain a key pressure point for equities, with all members of the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) currently trading under their 50-day moving averages. So far, though, market leadership has rotated rather than deteriorated. Earnings will provide a major test for the AI trade, with results and guidance from Microsoft, Meta, Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN) over the next two days helping to determine whether weakness remains contained within chips or spreads.
- View of current job and business conditions dims again: Consumers grew a bit gloomier again in July, extending a run of declining sentiment to a third straight month, according to the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index®, released Tuesday. The headline index slipped to 90.8, below the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 92.1, from an upwardly revised 92.2 in June. The drop was driven by a more negative view of current conditions of business and job-market conditions. The short-term outlook remained unchanged. The net view of the job market—dubbed the labor differential—also slid again, primarily due to fewer people saying the jobs were plentiful. In fact, the labor differential fell to 3.1 in July. The index, monitored by economists as a gauge of labor market conditions, has never turned negative without an accompanying recession.
On the move
- Sandisk (SNDK) again ranked as the hardest hit chip company Tuesday, losing 14%. Micron (MU) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) all lost more than 8%. Applied Materials (AMAT), Marvell (MRVL), and Lam Research (LRCX) all fell more than 7%.
- Seagate Technology (STX) lost more than 8% Tuesday but rebounded more than 4% before the bell after reporting higher profit and raising its outlook.
- KLA (KLAC) lost 6% Tuesday and fell about 8% in early trading. Earnings topped expectations but guidance disappointed.
- United Parcel Service (UPS) fell more than 6% after reporting that profit fell, weighed down by a charge related to workforce reductions and higher fuel costs.
- Coca-Cola (KO) rose more than 5% Tuesday after reporting higher earnings and revenue.
- Unilever (UL) gained nearly 9% Tuesday after it raised its full-year outlook and reported that quarterly sales volume hit more than a 16-year high.
- Oil prices rose more than 6% after hostilities resumed in the Middle East overnight. They had dropped a similar amount on Tuesday.
- AI infrastructure provider Vertiv Holdings (VRT) fell more than 6% Tuesday and another 16% overnight after it reported mixed earnings results.
- Proctor & Gamble (PG) fell more than 2% before the bell after revenue came in below expectations.
- Deutsche Bank (DB) gained more than 3% in premarket trading after reporting second-quarter results that topped expectations by a wide margin.
- Ford Motor (F) jumped more than 6% in early trading after the automaker's earnings beat expectations and it raised its outlook.
- Visa (V) fell more than 1% before the bell. The payments company reported higher revenue but said it would lay off 7% of its workforce.
- Sherwin-Williams (SHW) gained more than 8% Tuesday after reporting earnings and revenue that topped estimates.
- Steel company Nucor (NUE) rose more than 7% Tuesday after topping estimates with second-quarter earnings.
More insights from Schwab
Companies most shorted: The latest edition of the Short Interest Monitor is dominated by clean-energy companies but also features a range of tech firms, a fast-casual restaurant chain, a media company, and a health care real estate investment trust (REIT).
Chart of the day
Data source: ICE/NYSE. Chart source: thinkorswim® platform.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
For illustrative purposes only.
The S&P Financials and Real Estate Index ($SPFREITR—candlesticks) has charged to a new all-time high, underscoring the rotation happening beneath the surface of the major indexes.
The week ahead
Check out the investors' calendar for a summary of the top economic events and earnings reports on tap this week.
July 30: Q2 GDP first estimate, June PCE prices, June core PCE prices, June personal spending and personal income, and expected earnings from Mastercard (MA), Shell (SHEL), Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Altria (MO), Southern (SO), Sanofi (SNY), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Stryker (SYK).
July 31: University of Michigan final July consumer sentiment and expected earnings from ExxonMobil (XOM), AbbVie (ABBV), Chevron (CVX), Eaton (ETN), and Enbridge (ENB).
August 3: ISM Manufacturing PMI® for July, and expected earnings from Marriott (MAR), Palantir (PLTR), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Williams Companies (WMB), ONEOK (OKE), and Diamondback Energy (FANG).
August 4: Expected earnings from Caterpillar (CAT), Merck (MRK), Toyota (TM), McDonald's (MCD), Pfizer (PFE), BP (BP), Duke Energy (DUK), Cummins (CMI), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Apollo Global Management (APO), Rockwell Automation (ROK), Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Arista Networks (ANET), Amgen (AMGN), and Gilead Sciences (GILD).
August 5: ADP employment data for July, ISM Services PMI® for July, and expected earnings from Eli Lilly (LLY), Walt Disney (DIS), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Shopify (SHOP), CVS (CVS), Uber (UBER), Sandisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC), and AppLovin (APP).