29. Jul 2026
Description
(AWP Alliance News) - Shares ended lower on Wednesday ahead of major US technology earnings after the Federal Reserve elected to hold interest rates steady.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1,153.18 points, 2.2% at 51,594.14. The S&P 500 fell 112.63 points, 1.5%, to 7,316.15. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 433.97 points, 1.7%, at 24,442.94.
The Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday voted leaves the federal funds rate target range at 3.50-3.75%, marking the Federal Reserve's fifth consecutive meeting without a change in rates.
"The FOMC delivered a hawkish hold, with three voters dissenting in favor of a 25bp rate hike," wrote Barclays Capital analyst Marc Giannoni.
"The statement remained parsimonious, reaffirming a commitment to price stability, and continuing to describe activity as solid, the labor market as balanced, and inflation as elevated amid supply shocks.
"The statement noted three dissents (Hammack, Kashkari, Logan) in favor of a 25bp hike, indicating that the policy decision came amid significant hawkish resistance from those who preferred to hike immediately rather than wait out data developments. We think these dissents will help sustain market pricing of hikes in upcoming meetings as we await data developments," Giannoni added.
XTB research director Kathleen Brooks said a weaker dollar signals the market's belief that "the FOMC is on hold for the foreseeable future". Brooks noted Chair Kevin Warsh's vote to hold and the Fed's statement being left unchanged.
Against the dollar, the euro rose to USD1.1458 on Wednesday from USD1.1387 on Tuesday. Sterling rose to USD1.3357 from USD1.3289. Against the yen, the dollar fell to JPY163.46 from JPY163.86.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened to 4.67% from 4.60% while the 30-year yield rose to 5.20% from 5.09%.
Gold rose to USD4,065.87 an ounce from USD4,023.25 on Tuesday.
Thursday sees monthly and quarterly personal consumption expenditures, and the weekly initial jobless claims report.
A barrel of Brent fetched USD90.71 a barrel on Wednesday, up from USD83.84 on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate climbed to USD84.90 from USD79.11.
US President Donald Trump vowed to hit back hard at Iran after it attacked US bases in Jordan on Wednesday, as the Middle East war reignited and once again drew in the Islamic republic's proxies.
"We'll be hitting them hard. They're going to get a beating," Fox News's correspondent quoted Trump as saying, adding that the US president swore for emphasis: "We are going to beat the 'effing s' out of them."
For two days, Saudi Arabia has reported drone attacks targeting crude facilities that it blamed on Iraqi armed groups allied with Tehran.
Iran meanwhile launched missiles at US ally Jordan, with state media later reporting an American attack near the Islamic republic's border with Iraq.
NXP Semiconductors on Tuesday reported better than expected second quarter earnings and revenue, though profit declined sharply from a quarter prior.
NXP reported net income attributable to stockholders USD767 million in the three months to June, up 72% from USD445 million a year ago, though down 32% from the quarter prior. Adjusted earnings per share of USD3.61 surpassed the USD3.52 FactSet consensus.
Revenue totalled USD3.50 billion, up 19% from USD2.93 billion a year prior. Revenue came in ahead of the USD3.47 billion consensus.
GAAP gross margin improved to 57.3% from 53.4%, or to 58.0% from 56.5% on an adjusted basis.
NXP dropped 7.0% in New York as semiconductor shares suffered on Wednesday. Nvidia dropped 3.6%, Qualcomm lost 4.4% and Broadcom lost 2.8%. Micron shed 9.9%.
Meta lost 1.3%, while Microsoft fell 0.7% ahead of second quarter earnings. Apple ended down 0.6% and Amazon lost 1.9%. The firms report on Thursday.
Visa closed up 0.6% on Wednesday after it confirmed large job cuts and raised guidance following a strong financial third quarter.
In the three months to June, Revenue increased 14% to USD11.63 billion from USD10.17 billion, or by 13% at constant currency, beating Visible Alpha consensus of USD11.38 billion. Non-GAAP EPS increased 11% to USD3.32 from USD2.98, and beat USD3.23 consensus.
Sales were driven by year-over-year growth in payments volume, cross-border volume and processed transactions. CEO Ryan McInerney highlighted how the football World Cup boosted business in the quarter, with about 20% of clients utilising Visa services for the first time.
CEO McInerney confirmed on the earnings call that Visa is eliminating roles across the business, with the majority being in technology and product teams.
Reports said Visa plans to cut 2,600 jobs, or 7% of its workforce. McInerney told analysts the restructuring will "ensure that we are continuing to position Visa for future growth."
Ford shares rose 2.2% on Wednesday after reporting better than expected earnings, as it announced recovery of F-Series pickup truck production is on track.
F-Series production problems have plagued the company since two fires struck its aluminium supplier last year. Impacted production restarted last month.
Ford reported revenue of USD44.89 billion in the quarter, down 4.4% from USD46.94 a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share of USD0.42 cents beat the USD0.35 LSEG consensus.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.3%. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.6%. The DAX 40 ended marginally lower in Frankfurt.
In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.4%. The Hang Seng rose 2.0% in Hong Kong. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo declined 1.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.0%.
Tuesday's corporate calendar includes earnings from Amazon, Apple, MasterCard and Regeneron.
The global economic calendar has US PCE data and initial jobless claims. The Bank of Japan meeting begins.
By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter
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