Opening Comment — Tuesday, July 21, 2026
DJIA: 51,839.26, down 307.16
S&P 500: 7,443.28, down 14.41
NASDAQ: 25,508.07, down 12.17
Stocks higher as earnings season continues
Stock futures are higher Tuesday morning as investors continue to watch for earnings reports, along with the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Philadelphia’s July Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey, out today. Investors are also assessing further developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict, with the Houthis threatening shipping through the Red Sea and continued efforts by mediators to ease the fighting. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 1.3% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Monday as the Leading Index for June declined more than expected, falling 0.2% month-over-month (MOM), compared with a 0.1% increase in May. The Dow was down 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 0.7%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.2%.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s three-month average unemployment rate for May was unchanged at 4.9%, and three-month average weekly earnings unexpectedly eased to 4.3% year-over-year (YOY) in May. Meanwhile, the country’s jobless claims increased, and the claimant count rate held steady at 4.4% in June, following a downward revision to the previous month’s figures. The ZEW measures of economic growth expectations for July increased significantly for both the eurozone and Germany.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as South Korea’s exports and imports through the first 20 days of July increased 52.3% and 20.0% YOY, respectively, easing from increases of 60.4% and 23.2%, respectively, in the previous month. Japan’s Tokyo condominiums for sale decreased 4.7% YOY in June, compared to the 12.3% increase recorded in the previous month.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed ahead of this Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% higher at $83.49/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.4% higher at $4,064.60/ounce.