Closing Bell: Stocks Sink After Fed Holds Rates Steady, Oil Surges, Chips Tumble

U.S. stocks slid Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, while a 7% jump in oil prices tied to escalating Middle East tensions and big corporate earnings kept investors focused on risk.  

The S&P 500 (SPX) was down 1.5% while the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) slumped 2.06%, putting it near correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrials Average index ($DJI) was down 1152 points or 2.18% on Wednesday. The small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) fell 1.6%.  The PHLX Semiconductor Index plunged 5.33%, highlighting continued pressure on technology and AI-related shares. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) surged more than 13% to 20.60.  

New Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said he sees economic output, capital spending, and the labor market as "solid" and noted the "remarkable" surge in high-tech capital spending.

Four things to watch from today’s market:   

With the Federal Open Market Committee vote 9-3 to keep its benchmark interest rates unchanged at 3.5-3.75%, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note moved higher. The bond market signaled the Federal Reserve could be falling behind in the inflation fight, especially as tensions continue to fester in the Middle East. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude rose nearly 7% to $84.63 per barrel. See The Fed, Deflationary Forces, and America's New Productivity Boom and John Lonski on the Fed’s Hold, September Hike Odds, and Inflation Risks 

Microsoft (MSFT) reports strong results  

After the bell, Microsoft announced yet another quarter of results that beat Wall Street estimates, with earnings per share of $4.74 versus the $4.24 analysts were expecting, according to reports. Cloud revenue was $59.3 billion, up 27% year-over-year. Under Intelligent Cloud, Azure and other cloud services revenue was up 43% year-over-year. The stock was rallying after hours following a nearly 1% decline in regular trading Wednesday. See Options Corner: MSFT Down 20% Y/Y in Earnings, CapEx in Focus 

Mega-cap earnings take center stage  

Conversely, shares of Meta Platforms (META) were tumbling after hours after it posted an earnings miss, according to reports. Thursday's earnings calendar includes Apple (AAPL), Mastercard (MA), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), Valero Energy (VLO), KKR (KKR) and Trane Technologies (TT), extending one of the busiest weeks of earnings season.  See What ETF Trends Say About Earnings Season & Rotation Out of AI 

Divergent advancers and decliners: The biggest S&P 500 decliners included Lennox International (LII) -20.97%, Vertiv Holdings (VRT) -18.16%, Carvana (CVNA) -15.30%, Micron Technology (MU) -11.56%, and KLA Corp (KLAC) -11.19%. The biggest advancers included Garmin (GRMN) +16.23%, Fortinet (FTNT) +14.68%, GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC) +12.00%, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) +11.25%, and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) +8.77%. See Earnings Roundup: Is the 2Q Worry Overdone? 

Economic events/data, Thursday, July 30, 2026 (ET)  

• 08:30 AM: Advance GDP Growth Rate (QoQ) (Q2)  

• 08:30 AM: Personal Income and Outlays (Jun)  

• 08:30 AM: Initial Jobless Claims (Weekly)  

Earnings Calendar Thursday:  

Premarket: Mastercard (MA), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), Shell (SHEL), Altria Group (MO), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN)  

Postmarket: Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Coinbase Global (COIN), Reddit (RDDT), Rivian Automotive (RIVN), Strategy (MSTR), Roblox (RBLX), First Solar (FSLR), DexCom (DXCM), GoDaddy (GDDY) 

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