Market Brief — July 24, 2026

US equities were mixed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 (SPX) edged up about 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.6% against a backdrop of higher oil prices and rising rate expectations.

In Europe, the DAX (DAX) gained 1.4%, the CAC 40 (FRA40) advanced 0.9% and the FTSE 100 (UKX) added 0.9% alongside firmer commodity prices and elevated sovereign yields.

Major Asian equity index data were unavailable for the session.

Brent crude futures closed at $100.69 per barrel and the US 10-year Treasury yield moved above 4.7%, sending global bond yields to multi-year highs and lifting market-implied odds of a Federal Reserve hike at the July 28–29 meeting to roughly 33–35%.

UK June retail sales rose 1.0% month-on-month versus a -0.3% consensus, but 10-year gilt yields stayed above 5% as traders priced Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s fiscal stance and near-$100 oil, leaving Britain with the highest borrowing costs in the G10.

The Bank of Russia cut its key rate by 25 basis points from 14.25% to 14.00%, raised its 2026 inflation outlook to 6–7% with CPI running at 5.9%, and downgraded 2026 GDP growth to 0–1%, signalling concern that drone strike-related price pressures are colliding with weaker activity.

The White House replaced a global 10% duty with country-specific tariffs of 10–12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners covering about 99.4% of US imports, while exempting oil, gas and many food categories, a move that drew public criticism from the EU, Australia and Brazil and added to trade-policy uncertainty.

Energy and metals markets reacted to geopolitics as the Casian Pipeline Consortium halted crude loadings at Novorossiysk and shipowners suspended some Black Sea arrivals, pushing Brent above $100 per barrel and more than 30% higher month-to-date, while gold eased back toward $4,050 per ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) traded near $91–$92 alongside a 10-year US yield around 4.71%.

Equity sentiment was influenced by factor and earnings news as momentum and retail-favoured baskets suffered about a 13% July drawdown with tech ETFs SOXL and SMH seeing outflow pressure 1.6 standard deviations above average, while Verizon shares gained roughly 3–4% after a dark-fiber agreement with Google worth over $1 billion and a guidance hike to $4.99–$5.04 EPS, and CATL and Munich Re reported strong profit growth and capital plans including CATL’s 43% year-on-year H1 net profit rise to 43.3 billion yuan and a 20–40 billion yuan A-share buyback. Berkshire Hathaway completed its acquisition of Taylor Morrison. In announced deals, Siris agreed to acquire Equiniti's Retirement Solutions, Customer Resolutions and Lenvi businesses, ASSA ABLOY moved to buy US-based Classic Brass, and WSP submitted a non-binding expression of interest to purchase all Arcadis N.V. shares for EUR 51.50 per share. Other announced transactions included GR0’s acquisition of Ultimate AI's deployment division to launch GR0 AI, a merger between the world’s largest local REALTOR association and Martin County REALTORS, Banko Overhead Doors' purchase of Southeastern Garage Doors, and a merger agreement between Mission Critical Group and CORE Transformers.