4:15pm: Another record close
Thursday’s trading session wrapped up with a bit of a mixed bag for US stocks.
The Dow Jones slipped 0.7%, dropping 316 points to close at 44,694, while the Russell 2000 took a sharper hit, falling 1.4% to 2,252.
On the flip side, the S&P 500 nudged up slightly by 0.1%—adding 4 points to reach 6,363—marking its fourth record close in a row. The Nasdaq also edged higher by 0.2%, climbing 38 points to finish at 21,058.
The Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, took a bigger hit, falling 1.4% and shedding 31 points to close at 2,252.
Tech earnings from Alphabet (GOOG) kept investors’ eyes on AI as a major growth driver, lending some support to the S&P and Nasdaq’s gains. Meanwhile, optimism around trade deals continues to boost sentiment.
After the US-Japan agreement, hopes are rising for a US-EU pact as well, with reports suggesting a 15% tariff might replace the previously threatened 30% on most European imports. This new rate could become the baseline for “reciprocal” tariffs set to kick in August 1, reflecting an adjustment from the original 10% baseline tariffs from earlier this year.
All in all, while some sectors took a breather, the market’s focus on trade progress and tech innovation helped keep the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting new highs yet again.
3:30pm: Proactive news headlines
- Blockmate Ventures Inc (MATE): Blockmate launched a Bitcoin treasury division and completed its first Bitcoin purchase, supporting its mine-and-hold strategy through Blockmate Mining.
- Synchronoss Technologies Inc (SNCR): Synchronoss received a $30.2 million tax refund under the 2020 CARES Act, with the IRS confirming a total refund of $33.9 million including interest.
- Candel Therapeutics Inc (CADL): The European Medicines Agency granted Orphan Designation to Candel’s investigational immunotherapy CAN-2409 for pancreatic cancer, complementing existing FDA designations.
- American Resources Corp (AREC): American Resources’ subsidiary ReElement Technologies hired new personnel to scale operations and boost research, development, and policy engagement.
- Bango PLC (BGO): Bango’s shares rose 5% following a strong H1 report, driven by a 21% increase in recurring revenue from its Digital Vending Machine platform and doubling of active subscriptions.
- HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE): HIVE surpassed 13 exahash per second in Bitcoin mining capacity as it expanded operations at its hydro-cooled facility in Paraguay with new Bitmain S21+ Hydro miners.
- Nextech3D.AI (NTAR): Nextech3D.AI expanded its event platform MapD into an AI-powered Event Technology Suite, migrating to AWS and launching a new app featuring AI matchmaking, AR navigation, and crypto payments.
2:40pm: Stocks on the move
- Tesla Inc (TSLA): Tesla shares dropped nearly 10% after its Q2 earnings as CEO Elon Musk cautioned about “a rough few quarters ahead” amid challenges like the loss of the US EV tax credit, rising competition, tariffs, and customer alienation from Musk’s political activities.
- Teck Resources Ltd (TECK.B): Teck Resources’ board approved extending the Highland Valley Copper Mine’s life to 2046, with expected annual copper production averaging 132,000 tonnes.
- STMicroelectronics (STM): STMicroelectronics shares fell sharply after missing Q2 earnings expectations due to significant one-time expenses, reporting EPS of $0.06 versus the $0.10 estimate.
- American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO): American Eagle shares surged over 8% following the launch of a fall 2025 marketing campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney and a related limited-edition jacket and denim collaboration.
- Synchronoss Technologies Inc (SNCR): Synchronoss announced receipt of a $30.2 million tax refund under the 2020 CARES Act, with the IRS confirming a total refund of $33.9 million including interest.
- International Business Machines Corp (IBM): IBM beat Q2 revenue and earnings expectations with $17 billion in revenue but saw shares fall nearly 9% after missing on software revenue.
- American Airlines Group Inc (AAL): American Airlines warned of a surprising Q3 adjusted loss, causing shares to drop 7.7%, despite record revenue and strong Q2 earnings.
- Honeywell International Inc (HON): Honeywell raised its full-year revenue and profit forecasts after better-than-expected Q2 results driven by growth in building automation and aerospace segments.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG): Chipotle shares fell 10% after reporting a second consecutive quarter of declining sales and lowering its full-year outlook amid weakening consumer demand and economic pressures.
1:35pm: Tesla: difficult EV environment
Tesla is facing several challenges, including the loss of the US federal EV tax credit, rising competition, tariff costs and Musk’s political activities, which has alienated some of its customer base.
Analysts at Wedbush noted that the results beat Street expectations as Tesla continues to navigate a difficult EV demand environment.
“While the company will continue to manage the business strategically to maintain a strong balance sheet during this uncertain period, the company expects to see an acceleration of AI, software, and fleet-based profits over time, which will bring higher-margin revenues to the business,” they highlighted.
“The company expects to expand its vehicle offerings to include its more affordable model expected to start volume production in the second half of 2025 with more affordable models launching in fiscal Q4 2025, which we believe will start to accelerate deliveries into the back-half of this year with the Model Y refresh and into 2026 laying the foundation for the autonomous future.”
Wedbush sees the upcoming quarters as crucial for Tesla on the autonomous front.
The company aims to have autonomous ride-hailing in half the US population by the year-end and bring its Robotaxi offering to Florida, Arizona, California, Nevada and more.
12:55pm: Alphabet delivers clean print
Despite a $1.4 billion legal charge that impacted margins, analysts noted that Alphabet's core business showed strong profitability.
“This is the cleanest print we have seen from Google in some time,” UBS wrote, pointing to 12% growth in Search revenue and a 32% jump in Cloud revenue, both outpacing consensus estimates.
YouTube ad revenue also climbed 13% to $9.8 billion, aided by monetization improvements in Shorts. Cloud revenue reached $13.6 billion, helped by robust enterprise demand and a $16 billion quarter-over-quarter increase in backlog.
Still, regulatory uncertainty remains a concern for some. “We maintain our Neutral rating as we continue to believe that Google's P/E trading multiple will remain under pressure,” UBS said, citing unresolved legal issues and potential market share loss in Search.
12:20pm: Home sales stay sluggish
New home sales rose just 0.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000, following an 11.6% drop in May, signaling continued sluggish demand amid high mortgage rates and affordability challenges.
Year-to-date, sales are down 4.3%, with the Northeast seeing the sharpest regional decline at 25.6%.
Despite modest resilience in the face of elevated rates, inventories continue to outpace sales. “New home sales are holding up relatively well given the elevated stance of mortgage rates,” analysts at Wells Fargo noted, warning that the rising inventory-to-sales ratio suggests further weakness ahead for residential construction.
11:45am: Tesla faces rough road ahead
Tesla’s second-quarter earnings slightly beat expectations, with non-GAAP EPS of $0.40 topping Bank of America’s estimate of $0.35 and just shy of the Street's $0.42.
Strong gross profit was driven by robust energy segment margins and improved auto gross margin, though higher R&D expenses reflected Tesla’s continued push into AI initiatives like Robotaxi and Full Self-Driving.
Shares were down 9% on Thursday morning.
"Tesla probably could have a few rough quarters,” CEO Elon Musk warned, citing the phase-out of US IRA incentives.
Bank of America cautioned that free cash flow may come under pressure in coming quarters due to policy changes and ongoing investment in autonomy. Still, BofA remains upbeat on Tesla’s AI trajectory: “We see TSLA as the company with the largest advantage in terms of autonomous driving initiatives and physical AI applications currently in the marketplace.”
11:15am: Meme stock frenzy draws warnings
A fresh wave of meme stock mania is sweeping through markets, but investors should tread carefully, warns Nigel Green, CEO of financial advisory firm deVere Group. Shares of struggling companies like Krispy Kreme, GoPro, and Beyond Meat have soared in recent days despite poor financial performance, echoing the volatility of the GameStop frenzy in 2021.
“This isn’t investing, it’s coordinated crowd behavior,” Green said, pointing to retail traders who aim to trigger short squeezes rather than assess business fundamentals.
The rallies, driven largely by momentum, have already shown signs of sharp reversals. Kohl’s, for example, surged 36% before plunging 16%, while Opendoor gave up most of its gains after nearly tripling.
“You’re not entering a long-term position when you buy into these moves,” Green added. “You’re stepping into a volatile, crowd-driven cycle.”
10:40am: New home sales fall short of expectations
US new home sales rose a modest 0.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000, missing economists’ expectations for a 650,000 pace.
The previous month’s sales figure was revised slightly higher to 623,000.
The supply of new homes edged up to 9.8 months, signaling ongoing inventory buildup. The data points to slower-than-expected momentum in the housing market amid elevated mortgage rates and affordability concerns.
9.55am: Dow falls but Nasdaq climbs to new highs
The Dow Jones fell 0.5% but the Nasdaq and S&P 500 opened 0.3% and 0.2% higher on Thursday, hitting new all-time highs.
Tesla and IBM shares both tumbled over 9% after earnings overnight, limiting gains.
Alphabet rose 1.7% after its afterhours earnings impressed.
8am: Mixed open expected
Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of Thursday's opening bell, as investors react to mixed reports afterhours from tech giants Alphabet and Tesla, and reports of a potential trade deal between the US and the European Union.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.4%, while those for the Nasdaq 100 up 0.3%, with the S&P 500 marginally above flat.
The previous day, risk appetite was boosted by news of trade deal between the US and Japan, helping the S&P to extend its winning streak as it climbed 0.8% to its twelfth all-time high this year, with the Nasdaq also rising 0.8% to hit another record close.
Meanwhile, the Dow had closed 1.1% higher to end at its best level since the end of last year, while the small-cap Russell 2000 topped the lot, jumping 1.5% but still some way below its all-time high from last November.
Traders are optimistic that the US and EU have reached a trade deal, with a report from the Financial Times suggesting the two countries are nearing agreement on 15% levy for European exports to the US, though the US did not confirm that this was the rate agreed.
Second quarter earnings from Alphabet and Tesla after the close saw the Google owner deliver a solid set of earnings, along with revenues which beat expectations.
Investors initially quailed at plans to increase spending to build out infrastructure to take account of increased demand for its Cloud products and services.
Tesla fell sharply after it reported lower profits due to declining auto sales, with the stock dropping 5.5% afterhours as policy headwinds also loom after President Trump’s decision to cancel EV incentives.
IBM is also set to open 6% lower despite an earning beat and improved full-year guidance. However, revenues and gross margin came in below the consensus forecast.
Taders are also focusing on President Trump’s ongoing attacks on the Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell.
This has "an added piquancy" today as Trump makes the first presidential visit to the Federal Reserve building in Washington DC in nearly two decades, says market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation.
"It comes as the Trump administration has focused on Mr Powell, not just for his stubbornness in refusing to cut interest rates (as he blames uncertainty over the possible inflationary effect of Trump’s trade tariffs), but also for a large cost overrun on renovations to the central bank building.
"There is some speculation that Mr Trump may use these as a wedge to get rid of the Fed Chair before his term expires in May next year."
However, Morrison notes that the VIX volatility index remains "tame", which is "an indication that investors are increasingly comfortable with the current trading environment, and expect it to continue" but also "suggests a high level of complacency".