Wall Street closed a turbulent week on a mixed but calmer note on July 24, as gains in Apple helped offset continued weakness in chip stocks. The S&P 500 edged up 3.68 points, or 0.05%, to 7,411.98, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.60 points, or 0.46%, to 51,947.25, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 161.87 points, or 0.64%, to 24,975.82. All three indexes still finished the week lower, with the Nasdaq's roughly 2% decline the steepest of the three.
Apple Rallies on Ford Deal and Analyst Upgrades
Apple shares rose about 3.5% after Ford confirmed that Apple Maps will be built into its upcoming Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, playing a central role in navigation and charging guidance for future Ford EVs. The move added to a wave of positive sentiment around the stock, with Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Robert W. Baird all raising their price targets around the announcement. Reports of regulatory progress for Apple's generative AI features in China added further support. The rally in the world's most valuable company was enough on its own to lift the Dow into positive territory for the session, illustrating how a single megacap move can now shape the direction of the broader benchmark.
Chip Stocks Remain Under Pressure
Even as Apple advanced, semiconductor and broader technology names stayed on the back foot, keeping the Nasdaq in negative territory and extending a rough stretch for the sector following Thursday's steep selloff. The prior session had seen the so-called Magnificent Seven group of megacap stocks shed close to 800 billion dollars in combined market value after Alphabet fell roughly 7% and Tesla dropped about 14% on their earnings reports, with investors reacting sharply to rising AI-related capital spending. Friday's price action suggested that caution around AI monetization has not fully faded even as broader sentiment stabilized somewhat.
Oil Retreats on Hopes for an Iran Off-Ramp
Crude prices pulled back from the elevated levels reached earlier in the week after reports suggested Pakistan was exploring a path toward renewed negotiations between the United States and Iran. The prospect of easing hostilities, even tentative, offered some relief to markets that had spent the week pricing in the risk of a prolonged conflict and its impact on energy supply. Gold nonetheless continued to attract demand as a hedge, adding about 0.74% to trade near 4,080 dollars an ounce, reflecting lingering caution among investors despite the modestly improved geopolitical tone into the weekend.
A Week Defined by Earnings and Geopolitics
The week encapsulated the two forces that have dominated markets through much of July: an earnings season testing the market's patience with AI capital spending, and a Middle East conflict that has kept energy prices and volatility elevated. With the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on July 28-29 on the near horizon and more earnings still to come, traders head into the final days of the month with little reason to expect the choppiness to fade quickly. Balanced positioning and attention to headline risk remain the more prudent approach heading into next week, particularly with several more large-cap earnings reports still on the calendar before month's end.
Daily market analysis by BCM Markets.