Market Update | July 14th - 18th

This week's market trends were very news-driven, but in the end, markets prevailed through the wild ride. Let's break it down.

Indexes

Despite some big headlines, your favorite indexes stayed relatively still. The S&P500 added 0.67%, closing at an all time high on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.01%, and the Nasdaq Composite led the trio with a 1.47% gain.

Bonds

US Treasury yields (the annual payment received on a bond, expressed as a percentage) rose throughout the week before falling later on, and eventually ending about where they started.

Commodities

Oil prices originally dropped early in the week before reversing the trend due to potential conflict in the Middle East. Supply and demand are the fundamental forces that determine commodity prices, which is why this was so concerning to investors. Because so much oil comes from the Middle East region, conflict there would severely impact supply of oil, jacking up the price.

Crypto

It was another strong week for crypto, with bitcoin rallying to $123,000. Other coins such as Ethereum followed suit.

Events

Market volatility from Powell “firing” rumors, sharp reversal of gains

On July 16, a rumor that President Trump might oust Fed Chair Powell briefly sent indexes down ~0.8%, and treasury yields up. But the markets recovered sharply once that rumor was squashed.

US Consumer Sentiment Rises

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment index edged up to 61.8 in July, from 60.7 in June. This improvement came amid tariff tensions and reflects a cautious optimism among consumers across political lines.

Jobless Claims Decrease

Initial jobless claims dropped by 7,000 to 221,000 for the week ending July 12, beating forecasts. While steady overall, manufacturing layoffs tied to trade uncertainty continue, suggesting slight labor-market weakness.

No Rate Cuts In July

Ahead of its July 29–30 meeting, the Federal Reserve reaffirmed that inflation concerns outweigh the pressure to cut rates. The federal funds rate remains at 4.25–4.50%, with a modest cut expected in September as long as inflation continues easing.

What's Coming Next

Next week, some big things are happening in the economy. The head of the U.S. central bank, Jerome Powell, will give a speech that could hint at whether interest rates might change. Big companies like Coca-Cola, Google (Alphabet), and Tesla will release earnings reports, which mean's they'll publicly share how much money they made. Additionally, economic data on new home sales will be released, which will signify consumer trends in the real estate market as well as consumer sentiment generally.

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Which event was most interesting to you?