SPX: S&P 500 Dips in Final Session of July — Still Up for Month Amid Tariff Jitters and Fed Drama

Broad index added a little over 2% in July as Trump went after all the countries and one person in particular — Fed boss Jay Powell.

📊 July Gains Survive a Noisy Backdrop

• The S&P 500 slipped on the final trading day of July, but it still wrapped the month with a 2.1% gain, thanks to a torrent of strong tech earnings and brewing geopolitical tensions that somehow didn’t knock investors off their game.
• Despite a late-month selloff (Friday was the third straight losing day), the S&P 500 held onto a 2.3% monthly rise, notching its third positive month in a row. The index defied gravity thanks in large part to robust corporate earnings and investor optimism around AI, even as policy risks loomed large.
• The Nasdaq Composite ended July in the green as well, extending the strong rebound from April’s chaos. The tech-heavy index added 4.5% while the 30-stock Dow Jones slipped under the flatline by 0.8%.

🛃 Tariff Deals Bring Relief — Sort Of

• What’s the biggest takeaway of the month? The US struck deals with both Japan and the EU, capping tariffs at 15% instead of the initially threatened 30%. The EU agreement — finalized a few days before the August 1 deadline — narrowly averted a major transatlantic trade escalation.
• Still, China remains unresolved, with no deal in sight and both sides appearing increasingly entrenched. A possible extension? Maybe. Maybe not. Watch out for those late-night all-caps Trump posts on Truth Social.

🥊 Trump vs. Powell — Round Who’s-Counting

• Also in July, President Trump unleashed fresh criticism against Fed Chair Jay Powell, blaming him for holding back growth by refusing to cut interest rates. Things hit fever pitch when Trump decided to pay the Fed a visit (you must’ve seen the clip by now, because it was everywhere).
• The Fed stood pat once again at last week’s meeting, keeping rates at 4.25–4.5%, despite internal dissent and political pressure. The market is now pricing in a high probability of a rate cut in September, barring any major inflation surprises.

👊 Big Tech Earnings: Beat After Beat

• It was an earnings bonanza for the Magnificent Seven, with Microsoft MSFT, Meta META, Amazon AMZN, and Apple AAPL all topping both revenue and earnings expectations this week. The standout performer? Meta’s shares blasted off by nearly 12% to close just under $2 trillion in market cap.
• AI, cloud, and digital ads drove massive year-over-year gains, pushing stocks — and index valuations — even higher.
• Combined, the Mag 7 helped power the S&P 500 through choppy macro waters, proving once again that Big Tech is still the engine of this bull market.