Stock Market Soars: S&P 500 Hits Record High, Nasdaq Surges as Big Tech Earnings Take the Spotlight

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The stock markets in the US finished the trading week on a mixed note Monday, though both the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 still hit new record highs, making the upcoming earnings season a busy one as tech giants are expected to report the results of one of their busiest quarters in a long time. Investors eyes were also drawn to the ongoing tensions in the trade war, as the deadline on the tariffs imposed by President Trump is just around the corner.

The Nasdaq inched up 0.4 percent, its sixth all-time closing high in a row following last week,s growth run. In the meantime, the S&P 500 gained a little more than 0.13 percent and broke the 6, 300 mark for the first time ever. Conversely, Dow Jones Industrial average went up and down, opening by 250 points, but closing just a few points below break-even.

Put emphasis on earnings and developments in Big Tech trades.

This week investor attention is focused on two of the most significant factors: the profits of large technology companies and, or not, the development of trade relations in the US. Earnings season is upon us and two of the so-called Magnificent Seven Big Tech stocks, Alphabet (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA) are the first to roll out their quarterly results on Wednesday.

Healthy profits by these mega-companies may support their huge valuations considering that the spotlight of the market seems to shift towards the explosive development of artificial intelligence (AI). Nonetheless, this AI hype has made some parallels to previous tech-bubbles, which makes some people concerned.

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Trade wise, what President Trump has proposed as tariffs are hot news. Astounding new tariffs that are to be implemented on August 1, the US is in a growing rift with the trading partners. Retaliatory efforts specifically by the European Union have shown an indication of possible increase in retaliatory efforts in case they fail to establish a trade agreement with the US.

Hardline by Trump on the issue of trade and opposition to him by members of the EU are killing the hopes of an early solution.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick asked again on Sunday that White House deadline of new tariffs will be upheld.In the meantime, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has underlined that the administration is not only focusing on sealing agreements but also improving the quality of trade agreements.

Corporate Earnings: Good Results Despite Tariff Worry

Despite these uncertainties in the world, a few firms have been recording good profits.The Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), to give but one example, was better than Wall Street was expecting in the second quarter due, in part, to the tariffs imposed on steel imports by President Trump.

On the same note, Verizon Communications (VZ) experienced an upswing on its stock after earning good results on a quarterly basis.Domino Pizza (DPZ) reported an upbeat surprise in sales which was moderated by its new product sales in another good surprise of the quarter.

Already, 59 S&P 500 companies have released earnings and a whopping 86 percent of them have beaten the prediction of the Wall Street.Though this is a great performance in history, it could be pointed out that the expectations were not too high going into the season.

Dollars Fall Spurred on By Tariff Warnings Push Gold Prices Higher

The gold futures soared to a five-week high of over 1 per cent on Monday, when the US dollar lost strength. Investors are keenly eyeing the imminent introduction of new tariffs which are likely to shake the entire global markets in case no agreement is fronted with major trading partners.

Gold rose to nearly 3,400 dollars an ounce – within a few 100 prices of its all-time high earlier this year. A fall in the value of the dollar usually causes gold prices to increase given that there is a positive correlation between them and on Monday, the dollar index declined below 98 thus giving a boost to the rising metal.

Regional dealings Gold on the rally track as President Trump pushing to increase blanket tariffs on imports from the European Union which makes negotiation before the next 1 August deadline difficult. Brazil, on the other hand, has recently become more inclined to the idea that no deal may be reached by the deadline, which adds to the uncertainty of the situation on the market.

Ethereum Catching up: Companies invest in Digital Assets

It is not only Bitcoin (BTC-USD) that corporate treasuries are noticing. The increasing number of firms is including Ethereum (ETH-USD) into their balance sheets as they find value in the decentralized finance infrastructure Ethereum offers.

Larger companies are not being left behind and are queuing in on the bandwagon even as smaller crypto-related companies such as BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) are joining the club. In its parent company, Coinbase, data provided by CoinGecko show that Coinbase Global (COIN) has held more than 440 million ETH.

On a blog post in 2021, Coinbase has achieved a first-mover advantage by purchasing Ethereum and other digital assets to anchor its balance sheet, in addition to Bitcoin. The position taken by the company is an indication of a larger proportion of companies that will do similarly in future. Indeed, as Coinbase phrased it, its belief was that future was going to value increasingly more and more companies on their balance sheets holding crypto assets.

Future Watch: Tariffs and Big Tech Will Play a Big Role

As Big Tech earnings take their turn this week, investors are paying active attention to Alphabet and Tesla in particular to test whether these companies can still report robust growth facing pressure on valuations and whether the long-term effects of the development of AI are a growing concern. Meanwhile, the trade developments will continue to be a volatile factor and the August 1 tariff deadline is very close.

In the meantime, markets will likely react to any surprises in earnings results and trade negotiations, with investors staying on edge as they await clarity on both fronts.

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