Market Update: Oil and yields squeeze tech as Alphabet and Tesla stumble after earnings, July 23, 2026

Oil and yields, not earnings, set the market's tone

The bigger story into Thursday is that the market is being forced to reprice higher energy and higher rates at the same time. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.14% to 7,498.96, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.57% to 25,690.90, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially flat, down 6.06 points to 52,218.58, as crude climbed and traders marked up the odds of another Fed hike. CNBC reported Brent settled up about 3.4% at $94.07 a barrel after briefly topping $95, while WTI rose about 3% to $86.83. CNBC

The lead angle is different from the past few sessions because this wasn't about a chip rebound or an AI snapback. It was about the market running into a macro wall. Yahoo Finance said the 10,year Treasury yield hit its highest intraday level since May 19 as investors worried that another oil shock could keep inflation sticky. Treasury's own daily curve data showed the 10,year at 4.67% and the 30,year at 5.15% for July 22, both elevated enough to keep pressure on equity multiples. Yahoo Finance U.S. Treasury

Wall Street's previous session: defensives hold up, growth gets crowded out

The index moves looked calm on the surface, but the internal message was more cautious. CNBC noted the market was weighed down by higher oil prices ahead of a heavy earnings slate, while Yahoo Finance said the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both finished lower as traders waited for Alphabet and Tesla after the bell. In other words, investors were no longer willing to pay up for duration,heavy growth while the discount rate was moving the wrong way. CNBC Yahoo Finance

One sign of that pressure was the way headline index stability masked weak appetite for expensive mega,cap and software names. CNBC's premarket coverage on Thursday said stock futures were slipping as investors digested earnings and another leg higher in oil. That suggests Wednesday's flat Dow understated how vulnerable the broader tape remains if crude stays near $95 Brent and the 10,year keeps grinding higher. CNBC CNBC

Biggest movers: Super Micro surged, GE Vernova sank, AT&T rallied

The standout upside move in regular trading was Super Micro Computer. Shares jumped nearly 20% after the server maker said it received more than $60 billion in new orders and forecast fiscal fourth,quarter gross margins above prior expectations. The move spilled over to other AI infrastructure names, with Yahoo Finance reporting gains of more than 3% for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and nearly 10% for Dell. CNBC Yahoo Finance

On the downside, GE Vernova dropped about 8% after a mixed quarter. Yahoo Finance said investors focused on the earnings miss even though revenue topped estimates. AT&T moved the other way, rising 3.5% after its results before the bell. Those moves matter because they show this tape is rewarding clean execution and punishing even small disappointments, especially in crowded industrial and power names that had been treated as safe macro winners. Yahoo Finance

After,hours reset: Alphabet and Tesla both disappoint on spending discipline

Thursday's cash session will be driven first by what happened after Wednesday's bell. Alphabet reported better,than,expected second,quarter revenue, helped by 82% year,over,year growth in Google Cloud, but the stock fell because it lifted its 2026 capital spending forecast as AI demand accelerates. CNBC said Alphabet shares were around 4% lower in premarket trading Thursday. CNBC CNBC

Tesla's report landed even harder. MarketBeat showed adjusted EPS of $0.33 on revenue of $28.24 billion, a miss on profit despite a revenue beat. CNBC said Tesla shares were down more than 5.7% in premarket trade as investors reacted to the earnings miss and negative free cash flow. The common thread with Alphabet is simple: the market is less willing to give management teams a blank check for future growth when oil, bond yields and policy risk are all rising at once. MarketBeat CNBC CNBC

There were bright spots after hours. ServiceNow reported subscription revenue of $3.877 billion, up 24.5% year over year, and raised its full,year subscription outlook. Texas Instruments posted second,quarter revenue of $5.46 billion and EPS of $2.14. IBM, though, was flagged by CNBC as having lowered its full,year forecast, making it another data point in a market that is differentiating sharply between AI beneficiaries and everyone else. ServiceNow Texas Instruments CNBC

Bonds and the Fed: the market is rebuilding hike odds

This is where the action gets most important for systematic and macro traders. CNBC reported that fed funds futures were pricing roughly a 34% chance of a rate hike this month, up from about 10% a week earlier, and a 78% chance of at least a quarter,point hike by September. That repricing came as oil pushed higher and investors questioned whether the Fed can look through another energy,driven inflation impulse. CNBC CME Group

Official Treasury data backs up the pressure in rates. The Treasury yield curve for July 22 showed 2,year yields at 4.31%, 10,year yields at 4.67%, and 30,year yields at 5.15%. For equities, that matters in two ways. First, it compresses valuations for long,duration tech. Second, it raises the odds that any earnings miss will be punished more severely because the macro cushion is gone. U.S. Treasury

Commodities and crypto: crude is the inflation transmission channel

Oil remains the cleanest macro signal on the screen. CNBC tied Wednesday's jump in Brent and WTI to the 11th straight round of U.S. strikes against Iran and fresh comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iran was not serious about talks. Yahoo Finance also highlighted new threats around shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. That geopolitical premium is now feeding directly into rates and sector leadership, helping energy while hurting duration,sensitive growth. CNBC Yahoo Finance

Gold has eased even as oil surged, with Bloomberg market data showing spot gold around $4,092.90 and down about 1.4% on the day, a sign that rising real yields are offsetting haven demand. In crypto, there is no major stress signal yet. CoinMarketCap showed Bitcoin around $65,700 and Ethereum near $1,922 on Thursday, both relatively contained compared with the moves in oil and rates. For now, crypto looks more like a bystander than a market driver. Bloomberg CoinMarketCap CoinMarketCap

What to Watch Today

• Watch the open in Alphabet and Tesla after their post,earnings drops. Early read: spending discipline matters more than top,line beats.
• Keep an eye on Brent near $95 and WTI near $87. If crude extends higher, expect more pressure on rates,sensitive sectors.
• Treasury market levels matter. A 10,year yield holding around 4.67% or pushing higher would likely keep a lid on software and mega,cap tech multiples.
• Follow the next batch of earnings due Thursday, including Intel, American Airlines, Honeywell, Union Pacific, Freeport,McMoRan, Newmont and Blackstone, according to the earnings calendar. TipRanks
• On the data side, traders will be watching weekly initial jobless claims and any releases that shift the rates narrative ahead of the July 28,29 FOMC meeting. Bloomberg
• Geopolitics stays front and center. Any change in U.S.,Iran headlines or shipping risk in the Strait of Hormuz will hit oil first, then yields, then equities.