Closing Bell: Markets Mixed but Not Rattled by Energy, Earnings Volatility

Energy was among the strongest S&P 500 sectors in a market where almost everything else paused with escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran during a significant week for technology earnings. 

The futures price for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil advanced nearly 1% to roughly $82.50 per barrel. The S&P 500 energy sector was up 0.55%, and the communication services sector was up 0.77%, but most others were in the red, with the S&P health care and materials sectors each down the most, by roughly 1%. 

The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 0.19% to 7,443.28, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJI) declined 0.59% to 51,839.26. The Nasdaq Composite ($COMP) was little changed, slipping 0.05% to 25,508.07, and the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) was flat with a 0.04% gain to 28,604.23. 

Three things to watch from Monday’s market: 

U.S.-Iran Tensions Put Energy and Oil Supplies Back in Focus: 

“Before we had the ceasefire … we were already in a fragile situation from a supply perspective,” says Brian Kessens, a senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital, an energy investment firm focused on energy and related infrastructure funds. … Our sense is that China is going to become the marginal buyer [of crude oil] again.” For more from on the possibility of higher energy prices, see Crude Oil back to $100? Pricing Outlook as U.S.-Iran War Continues and an interview with Adam Coons on the U.S.-Iran War's Lasting Impacts & Earnings Justifying Valuations. 

Alibaba’s AI Release Boosts ADRs:  

Shares of Alibaba Group Holdings (BABA) rose nearly 5% in U.S. trading Monday after the Chinese technology giant known for its e-commerce and cloud computing company released its Qwen 3.8 large language model (LLM). The company says its model rivals those of Anthropic and OpenAI. Prosper Trading Academy's Charles Moon walks through an options example trade for Alibaba. See BABA Unveils Qwen 3.8: What New LLM Means for AI Trade. 

Judge Pauses Paramount Skydance (PSKY) Merger with Warner Bros. Discovery:

A plot twist in the reshaping of Hollywood and TV news came Monday. A federal judge paused the PSKY merger with Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) based on an antitrust lawsuit by attorneys general in a dozen states last week, according to reports. If the M&A deal comes to fruition, CNN and CBS, as well as streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+, would combine. Shares of WBD closed down nearly 4% Monday, while shares of PSKY fell 2%. See Quiet on Set? Regulation Challenges Hit PSKY-WBD Merger, NFLX & YouTube Future Threat and Ca$htag$: NFLX Losing Steam in Streaming Space as PSKY, WBD & DIS 

Among the tech companies reporting this week are Alphabet (GOOGL) on Wednesday after the market close, and Intel (INTC) after the close Thursday. More on major Tuesday earnings below and more detail in our calendar of big company earnings for this week. 

Economic Calendar (ET), Tuesday, July 21 

• 08:15 AM: ADP Employment Change 
• 04:30 PM: API Crude Oil Stock Change 

Earnings Calendar, Tuesday, July 21 

• Premarket: Novartis (NVS), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Danaher (DHR), 3M (MMM), Northrop Grumman (NOC), General Motors (GM), D.R. Horton (DHI), Halliburton (HAL), KeyCorp (KEY), Synchrony Financial (SYF), Ally Financial (ALLY), Hasbro (HAS). 
• Postmarket: Interactive Brokers (IBKR), Chubb (CB), Capital One Financial (COF), EQT (EQT), Alaska Air Group (ALK). 

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