Market Brief — July 29, 2026

U.S. equities fell as the Fed kept the federal funds rate at 3.50%–3.75% and long-dated Treasury yields rose, with the Dow (DJIA) down 2.2%, the S&P 500 (SPX) off 1.5%, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) lower by 1.7%. In Europe, the CAC 40 (FRA40) slipped 0.6%, the FTSE 100 (UKX) gained 0.3%, and the DAX (DAX) finished roughly flat at 0.0%. Asian equity signals were mixed, as the 000001.SS index was unchanged at 0.0% while South Korea’s KOSPI (KOSPI) fell about 6.0% after SK Hynix’s record Q2 results missed estimates and sparked a tech-driven rout that triggered market-wide circuit breakers.

The Federal Reserve left the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.50%–3.75% at its July meeting in a 9–3 vote, with three regional presidents preferring a 25 bp hike, while Chair Kevin Warsh stressed 'watchful thinking' and maintained the interest on reserve balances at 3.65%. After the decision, the two-year Treasury yield fell about 4 bp while 10-year and 30-year yields rose roughly 5 bp and 11 bp respectively, pushing the 30-year above 5.2% at its highest level since 2007 and leaving the S&P 500 (SPX), Dow, and Nasdaq about 0.5%, 1.5%, and 0.3% lower intraday. Gold (GCQ26) held near $4,017 as the U.S. dollar index (DXY00) traded in a 101.31–101.64 range alongside oil and Middle East tensions, while desks flagged upcoming July CPI, payrolls, advance Q2 GDP, and June PCE data as key for rate-cut expectations, and a Reuters poll showed Brent at $90.43 and India’s roughly 90% crude import dependence had led economists to cut India’s FY27 growth forecast to 6.6%, complicating the Reserve Bank of India’s task of balancing slowing growth against renewed inflation pressures.

Greggs shares surged about 16% in their largest one-day gain in five years after the UK chain reported H1 pretax profit of £76.0 million on £1.10 billion of sales, highlighted stronger July trading, and reiterated plans for around 120 net new stores this year toward at least 3,500 sites. SK Hynix posted record Q2 2026 operating profit of ₩60.54 trillion on revenue of ₩79.32 trillion and announced about $31 billion of capital spending, but a miss versus estimates and HBM4 shipment timing sparked a tech-driven selloff that triggered market-wide circuit breakers and left South Korea’s KOSPI (KOSPI) down roughly 6% on the day and about 16% over two sessions. In U.S. tech, NXPI fell about 7.7% after hours to $247.00 after issuing cautious Q3 guidance of $3.65–$3.85 billion revenue and $3.89–$4.32 EPS versus Q2 revenue of $3.50 billion and EPS of $3.61, while MSFT (MSFT) gained roughly 2.7% to $400.99 after Q2 revenue of $90.01 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $4.81 beat estimates and Azure grew more than 30% year-on-year. Borr Drilling completed the acquisition of five rigs through a new joint venture, Qualcomm closed its acquisition of Modular, Criteo completed its redomiciliation from France to Luxembourg as a step toward a U.S. domicile, and Allied Energy Corporation finalised a definitive agreement for a three-phase acquisition of the Puma Gold property in California. Grant Thornton Advisors announced an agreement to acquire CBIZ in a $5 billion transaction supported by New Mountain Capital. Other announced transactions included Bloomberg’s acquisition of Canoe Intelligence, Nocera’s agreement to acquire Taiwan-based QMAX Technology, PetIQ’s acquisition of MYOS, Lafayette Instrument’s acquisition of Avisoft Bioacoustics, and Pye-Barker Fire & Safety’s acquisition of Southland Fire & Safety Equipment.