Stock market today: S&P 500 snaps 6-day record streak, stocks fall as earnings flood in, Fed decision looms

Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

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US stocks ended lower on Tuesday as Wall Street weighed a flood of corporate earnings and fresh economic data, all while keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve’s next move.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) snapped a six-day streak of record highs, closing down about 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost roughly 0.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed around 200 points, or 0.4%.

Big tech earnings are in full swing this week with Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) set to report after the bell on Wednesday while Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) are expected on Thursday.

As a Yahoo Finance Chartbook submission from Barclays head of US equity strategy Venu Krishna shows, Big Tech has been the lone major market cohort this year that’s had earnings growth outperform it’s actual price return. This, Krishna argues, not only supports Big tech’s lofty valuations but is a key reason to remain bullish on the sector.

“We believe expectations heading into the quarter are not overly demanding, with Street estimates implying that Big Tech will merely meet its [long-term] EPS growth cadence, despite strong beats over recent quarters,” Krishna told Yahoo Finance. “With [the second quarter of 2025] poised to be the first quarter to see material impacts from incremental tariffs, Big Tech retains an outsized role in keeping overall SPX performance healthy, and we believe the group is well-positioned to do so.”

Read the full Yahoo Finance Chartbook here for 34 more charts that help explain the state of markets and the US economy right now.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

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American Eagle (AEO) has Sydney Sweeney. And now EV upstart Lucid Motors (LCID) has its own superstar.

Lucid Motors announced it has signed a “multi-year partnership” with Oscar-nominated actor and “culture icon” Timothée Chalamet as the company’s first-ever global brand ambassador.

As part of the deal, Chalamet will star in Lucid’s marketing push for the EV maker’s upcoming Gravity SUV. Lucid claims the Chalamet tie-up comes as the star was spotted driving a Lucid Air sedan in 2023.

Lucid’s connection with Chalamet comes on the heels of Sydney Sweeney’s deal with American Eagle, the teen brand that has been suffering of late. Sweeney’s deal to star in the brand’s fall campaign (dubbed “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans”) sent social media abuzz and American Eagle stock soaring last Thursday, with shares jumping 20% in pre-market trading before closing up 4.3%.

While the Sweeney images and accompanying ad copy caused some controversy, the ensuing coverage coming American Eagle’s way is still seen as a positive. American Eagle’s CMO likened the Sweeney partnership to the denim brand’s “Super Bowl.”

As for Lucid stock, news of Chalamet’s signing hasn’t lifted shares higher. Perhaps the “Dune” actor just needs better jeans.

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Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports:

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Spotify’s (SPOT) dismal quarterly earnings report has raised questions over whether the company should raise prices at a faster pace than it has previously to boost its margins.

On the company’s second quarter earnings call Tuesday, executives responded to an analyst question on why the company wasn’t raising prices as quickly as competitors. CEO Daniel Ek defended Spotify’s measured approach to price increases, saying the strategy reflects a long-term focus on customer retention rather than short-term financial gain.

“It’s a lot better to keep the customer around for a longer time than to lose the customer and then try to re-acquire the customer back at a later point,” Ek said. “At scale, the subscription business is really around retention, not new customer acquisition.”

The stock fell more than 10% following the quarterly report, retreating from a record rally after the company posted a Q2 loss, missed revenue estimates, and offered weaker guidance for the current quarter.

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Several strategists in the fifth volume of the Yahoo Finance Chartbook help explain why the S&P 500’s rally could continue. While trades like meme stocks have begun bubbling up once more, Goldman Sachs senior equity strategist Ben Snider told us their equity sentiment index is still reading “neutral.”

Goldman’s equity sentiment indicator combines nine measures of positioning in US stocks across investor groups including hedge funds, mutual funds, and retail investors. In other words, this isn’t a sentiment index based on vibes. It’s based on where money actually is in the market.

As Snider’s chart below shows, at a current reading of 0, investor sentiment could certainly have plenty of room to move higher.

“While valuation multiples sit at elevated levels relative to history, constrained positioning indicates room for the recent equity rally to continue,” Snider told us.

Deutsche Bank chief global strategist Binky Chadha made a similar point with his Chartbook submission.

“Equity positioning tends to align with earnings growth but is currently still below what we expect for Q2 and we look for a typical earnings season rally,” Chadha said. “Our outlook out to year end sees a rise in equity positioning as one of the drivers of further upside for equity prices.”

To see Chadha’s chart and 34 more that help explain the state of markets and the US economy right now, read the full Yahoo Finance Chartbook here.

Starbucks (SBUX) is set to report results for its fiscal third quarter after the market close on Tuesday as CEO Brian Niccol continues turnaround efforts and the company is expected to extend its US sales slump while facing an uncertain consumer environment, Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports.

DiPalma writes:

Read more about the coffee chain’s upcoming earnings results and stock here.

United Parcel Service (UPS) stock sank more than 9% as the company declined to provide a financial outlook for the upcoming quarter or full year.

“For our sector, this remains a very unsettling time,” CEO Carol Tome said on a call with analysts Tuesday morning following UPS’ second quarter earnings. “Changes in trade policy have not been cemented and the impact on customer demand and the overall economy is unknown.”

UPS also declined to provide guidance in its first quarter.

For the second quarter, the company reported earnings per share roughly in line with Wall Street’s projections and sales ahead of estimates, according to Bloomberg consensus data, despite declining from the prior year.

Stellantis (STLA) shares fell 2% after the Big Three automaker updated its financial results for the first half of the year, after releasing preliminary figures last week.

The company said President Trump’s tariffs will cost it 1.5 billion euros ($1.73 billion) in 2025, reports Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian.

Subramanian writes:

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Consumer confidence saw an uptick in July, with many Americans adjusting their expectations following a rebound from the lows triggered by President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements.

However, confidence still lags the elevated levels observed last year, and labor market concerns remain top of mind, according to new data released Tuesday morning.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for July rose to 97.2, surpassing both June’s revised figure of 95.2 and the 96.0 reading anticipated by economists.

“In July, pessimism about the future receded somewhat, leading to a slight improvement in overall confidence,” Stephanie Guichard, senior economist of global indicators at The Conference Board, said in the release.

The “Present Situation Index,” which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, fell 1.5 points to 131.5 in July.

The “Expectations Index,” which tracks consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, rose to 74.4 in February from 69.9 last month. Historically, a reading below 80 in that category signals a recession in the coming year.

Notably, Americans’ appraisal of current job availability weakened for the seventh consecutive month, reaching its lowest point since March 2021. In July, 18.9% of consumers reported that jobs were hard to get, up from 14.5% in January.

According to Guichard, consumers’ write-in responses highlighted that tariffs remained a significant concern, with many associating them with fears of rising prices.

References to high prices and inflation also increased in July, even as consumers’ average 12-month inflation expectations eased slightly to 5.8%, down from 5.9% in June and a peak of 7% in April.

Job openings declined in June while hiring also decreased, according to government data released Tuesday. The report comes as investors closely watch for any signs of slowing in the labor market amid a debate over when the Federal Reserve could start to cut interest rates again.

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 7.44 million jobs open at the end of June, a decrease from the 7.71 million seen the month prior. May’s report had the highest number of job openings since November 2024.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that 5.2 million hires were made in June, down from the 5.47 million in May. The hiring rate ticked lower to 3.3% from the 3.4% seen the month prior and stood at its lowest level since November 2024.

In one sign that workers remain cautious about labor market conditions, the quits rate — a sign of confidence among workers — hovered at 2%.

Both the hiring and quits rates are floating near decade lows, reflecting what economists have described as a labor market in “stasis.”

Royal Caribbean’s (RCL) stock fell 8% on Tuesday after the cruise line forecast its current-quarter profit below estimates. The company raised its annual forecast and is banking on resilient demand for its luxury destinations.

Reuters reports:

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Procter & Gamble (PG) stock dipped about 1%, reversing a slight pre-market gain, as the company took a cautious approach with its financial outlook while it navigates uncertain consumer sentiment and Trump’s tariffs.

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:

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The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led US stocks higher at the open on Tuesday morning with a 0.5% gain.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.2% on the heels of notching a sixth all-time closing high in a row on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) opened roughly flat.

Investors are digesting a wave of earnings reports and US trade data showing a sharp narrowing in the deficit (as tariffs loom). Meanwhile, they are looking ahead to the JOLTS job openings update for June at 10 a.m. ET. for labor market insight.

Among the top drugmakers reporting earnings on Tuesday, AstraZeneca (AZN, AZN.L) rose almost 2%, and Merck fell nearly 4% before the market open.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca reported second quarter revenue ahead of expectations Tuesday, with its cancer drugs helping fuel sales for the period.

Meanwhile, fellow pharma giant Merck (MRK) reported earnings below Wall Street’s projections, according to Bloomberg consensus data, and revenue from its HPV vaccine Gardasil was also less than expected amid continued headwinds in China.

Investors are also bracing for patents for Merck’s drug Keytruda (which accounted for roughly half of its second quarter revenue) to expire in 2028.

Also on Tuesday, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) stock plummeted roughly 20%. The firm cut its 2025 revenue and profit outlook, pointing to lower than expected sales growth of its obesity drug Wegovy in the US, ahead of its second quarter earnings results slated for Aug. 6.

The Justice Department is putting American companies on notice that they could be prosecuted if they chose to evade President Trump’s tariffs, even as the legality of the president’s “Liberation Day” duties remain unsettled in US courts.

Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Keenan reports:

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Nvidia (NVDA) led the Big Tech “Magnificent Seven” stocks higher on Tuesday before the market open, climbing 1.4%.

The gain came after Reuters reported that the AI chipmaker had ordered 300,000 H20 chips from its contract manufacturer TSMC.

“This supports our theory that there is enormous pent-up demand for NVDA chips from China right now,” Hedgeye Risk Management analyst Felix Wang wrote in a note to clients.

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), and Amazon (AMZN) rose fractionally ahead of their quarterly earnings reports later this week. Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Tesla (TSLA) traded down less than 1%.

Economic data: S&P CoreLogic 20-city home price index (May); Conference Board consumer confidence, July; Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (June); Dallas Fed services activity (July)

Earnings: Boeing (BA), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Caesars (CZR), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Merck (MRK), PayPal (PYPL), Procter & Gamble (PG), Spotify (SPOT), Starbucks (SBUX), SoFi (SOFI), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), UPS (UPS), Visa (V)

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