Market review from UTEX – week 31

The Great Rotation continues with the S&P 500 losing another 1.5% for the week and the Nasdaq losing 3.5% despite Friday's gains. On Thursday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite suffered their biggest daily declines since 2022. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000, an index of small-cap companies, rose again, +3.5%.

Bitcoin hit a seven-week high after Trump's Bitcoin 2024 speech. He promised to make the U.S. “the cryptocurrency capital of the planet and the world's bitcoin superpower” if he becomes president. BTC is now consolidating at the $69,700 level.  

On Wednesday there will be a Fed rate meeting. The market is not expecting any changes, but is looking for hints of a September rate cut, so the focus will be on Jerome Powell's press conference after the meeting. 

Friday will see the release of the July employment report. Weakness in the labor market could increase the odds of two rate cuts this year.

Market sentiment this week will depend on reports from the mega-caps – Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta. These are the main trading ideas for the coming days: it's going to be interesting and volatile. In addition to the Magnificent Seven, more than 170 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report earnings. Among them are MasterCard, AMD, Arm, Boeing, McDonald's and Starbucks. 

Successful trading!