Market Brief — July 28, 2026

US equities ended mixed as the Dow (DJIA) rose 1.0% and the S&P 500 (SPX) added 0.2% while the Nasdaq (IXIC) slipped 0.2%, with traders positioning ahead of the July FOMC decision and digesting a narrower US goods trade deficit.

European indices advanced, with FRA40 up 0.6%, UKX up 0.8% and DAX up 0.4%, helped by an improvement in French consumer confidence. In Asia, 000001.SS was unchanged on the day, showing limited index-level reaction to the sharp global semiconductor selloff highlighted in US trading.

Markets headed into the July FOMC meeting expecting the federal funds target range to stay at 3.50-3.75%, with a real-time rate-probability dashboard showing the midpoint around 3.625%, while some strategists still flagged a 25 bp hike as a possible break from prior guidance. The U.S. goods trade deficit narrowed 4.2% in June to $101.5B as imports fell 2.6% to $306.2B and exports slipped 1.8% to $204.7B, and French consumer confidence rose to 86 in July from 84 previously, pointing to a gradual improvement in domestic sentiment. In commodities and FX, Brent crude fell about 8.7% toward $88-89/bbl, WTI slid roughly 7.5% to the low $80s, gold traded around $4,045-4,076/oz and the U.S. Dollar Index oscillated near 101.3-101.5 as USD/JPY (USDJPY) hovered around 163.7-164.0.

Semiconductor selling set the tone as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell about 4.1%, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) lost more than 2%, and major names such as Nvidia, AMD, SK Hynix, Micron and Samsung Electronics posted multi-percent declines ahead of earnings and the Fed meeting. PayPal (PYPL) traded higher after Q2 2026 adjusted EPS of $1.38 beat the $1.28 consensus on $8.68B of revenue versus $8.47B expected and management raised full-year EPS guidance to $5.38 and transaction-margin dollar guidance to about $15.6B, while Visa shares edged up after the company outlined plans to cut roughly 7% of its global workforce, or about 2,600 jobs, to fund reinvestment. Apple's market value briefly topped $5.0T as shares hit an intraday high of $342.89 before closing below that level, SpaceX (SPCX) rebounded from a roughly 20% drop below its IPO price to finish around $116.49, and a bipartisan US Senate Russia-Iran sanctions bill featuring potential 500% tariffs on Russian goods and extending the Iran Sanctions Act to 2031 added to geopolitical headline risk. H.I.G. Capital completed its acquisition of Avove, closing the previously announced transaction. Announced deals included American Tungsten and Antimony's planned acquisition of a permitted critical-metals refinery in Nevada and the White Spar antimony mine in Arizona, LIMPID's purchase of Vision-AI company PetPeotalk to power its Kinfora pet-healthcare platform, and Micross's agreement to acquire AEMtec to expand its European advanced-packaging and optoelectronics footprint. S&P Global agreed to acquire a majority stake in Agusto & Company Limited, while Leonardo DRS, a GTIS Partners and GreyBrick Partners multifamily venture, Volara Motorsports Group, Straightaway, and All Star Healthcare Solutions each disclosed additional acquisitions across defense software, real estate, mobility and healthcare services.