Stocks In New York Retain Upward Bias Ahead of Key Tech Earnings and E

Barry Adams
29 Jul, 2025
New York City

Stock market indexes inched higher a day after the S&P 500 closed at a new record high. 

The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite have notched 15 new record highs in 2025 amid recovering market sentiment and receding worries about tariffs. 

The Trump administration's aggressive style and erratic tariffs roiled global financing markets, but investor sentiment recovered over the last six weeks as the U.S. president backed down. 

Donald Trump confirmed in social media posts that his administration is looking to limit overall tariffs to between 15% and 20%, sharply lower than the previously announced rates of as high as 50%. 

Despite the Trump administration's victory laps, the U.S. president and the Republican Party have engineered the largest increase in import tax in nearly one hundred years. 

The so-called tariffs are import taxes on nearly $3.5 trillion of goods, which will filter down as higher prices for every U.S. citizen, shrink the profit margin of most retailers and importers, and wipe out hundreds of thousands of businesses.

The Federal Reserve is set to hold the key short-term rate range between 4.25% and 4.50%, and investors are looking for clues for the future rate path. 

On the earnings front, investors are awaiting the release of results from Microsoft and Meta, which are scheduled on Wednesday, and Amazon and Apple on Thursday. 

On Wednesday, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey is expected to show at least 7 million job openings in July, and on Thursday, nonfarm payrolls are expected to show that the U.S. economy expanded payrolls by 110,000 in July.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Cadence Design Systems soared 8.6% to $362.52, and the electronic design automation software developer reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings and revenues in the second quarter. 

Whirlpool Corp. plunged 16% to $82.17 after the home appliance maker reported lower-than-expected earnings and revenue in the second quarter. 

The company's revenue of $3.77 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.34 fell short of analysts' expectations, and the parent company of Maytag-branded appliances estimated a weaker-than-expected annual earnings outlook. 

Nucor Corp. declined 5.6% to $136.45 after the steelmaker's second-quarter results fell short of market expectations. 

The steelmaker reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.60 on revenue of $8.5 billion in the second quarter. 

PayPal Holdings Inc. declined 3.5% to $75.80 despite the payment processing company reporting better-than-expected earnings.

Second quarter revenue increased to $8.3 billion, and adjusted earnings expanded to $1.40, and active accounts increased 2% to 438 million, and transaction volume rose to $443.6 billion.

For the third quarter, PayPal estimated adjusted earnings per share between $1.18 and $1.22, and transaction margin dollars are expected to increase 4% to between $3.76 billion and $3.82 billion.