Daily Summary: Equities Diverge as Tech Lags, Europe Rallies on Earnings & PMIs (24.07.2026)

🏢 Stocks, Indices, Earnings

• US stock indices are struggling for direction as the trading week draws to a close. Dow Jones futures (US30) are leading today's performance with a 0.5% gain, followed by modest increases in S&P 500 (US500: +0.2%) and Russell 2000 (US2000: +0.25%) futures. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 futures (US100) have limited early losses to roughly 1%, dragged down primarily by widespread weakness across big semiconductor names.

• Intel (INTC): Intel published strong Q2 results and a blockbuster outlook. Q2 revenue rose 25% YoY to $16.1 billion (vs. $14.4B expected), while adjusted EPS hit $0.42. Driven by surging AI CPU demand, data center revenue jumped 59% to $6.3 billion. Intel’s Q3 revenue guidance of $15.8B–$16.8B easily cleared Wall Street’s $15.1B estimate, prompting management to raise full-year capital expenditure to approximately $20 billion.

• Semiconductor Drag: Despite Intel’s blowout quarter, semiconductor stocks slumped on Friday, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index falling 3%. Intel itself flipped from premarket gains into a 4.3% loss. Broader weakness hit the sector, including Broadcom (-2.1%), SK Hynix (-7.9%), SanDisk (-7.8%), and Qualcomm (-1.6%), while Nvidia managed a modest gain (+0.5%).

• Meta Platforms (META): Meta is rolling out autonomous task capabilities for Meta AI powered by its new Muse Spark 1.1 model, allowing the chatbot to manage recurring tasks like daily briefings. Separately, the company launched "Seller," a dedicated application for Facebook Marketplace merchants, ahead of its Q2 earnings release on July 29.

• European Rally: European indices rebounded strongly, spearheaded by financials following robust earnings from BNP Paribas. Spanish IBEX 35 led the region (+1.65%), followed by the German DAX (+1.36%), Italian FTSE MIB (+0.95%), British FTSE 100 (+0.91%), French CAC 40 (+0.88%), and Swiss SMI (+0.79%). Major bank gainers included Banco Santander (+3.2%), BNP Paribas (+2.1%), Deutsche Bank (+2.1%) and UniCredit (+1.5%).

• SAP (SAP): SAP was the top performer in the DAX, surging +9.26%. Despite mixed headline numbers—Q2 revenue beat at €9.88B while EPS missed at €1.59—investor sentiment rallied as cloud order growth accelerated to 26% (vs. 24% expected). Backed by €3.2B in FCF and €2.2B in net cash, SAP’s robust balance sheet reassures investors that AI disruption risks are overblown.

🌍 Macro & Geopolitics

• Flash PMIs Beat Expectations: Eurozone Composite Flash PMI came in at 51.9 (vs. 50.2 expected, 50.0 prior). Similarly, the US Flash Composite PMI printed at 53.6 (vs. 52.2 expected, 51.9 prior), signaling solid underlying economic expansion.

• China & Pakistan Push for Diplomacy: Under pressure from Beijing, Pakistan is considering efforts to resume stalled peace talks between the US and Iran to end the nearly five-month-old war. Exploratory discussions were held in Islamabad during a visit by the Iranian interior minister.

💱 FX, Commodities & Crypto

• Foreign Exchange: Risk sentiment improved across foreign exchange markets, with most emerging market currencies advancing against the US dollar (USDHUF: -0.6%, USDINR: -0.5%, USDBRL: -0.4%). In G10 FX, the Australian and New Zealand dollars led gains (AUDUSD: +0.3%, NZDUSD: +0.37%). USDCAD rose 0.13% on falling oil prices, USDJPY ticked up 0.05%, and EURUSD traded flat at 1.1370.

• Energy: Crude oil erased yesterday's gains on headlines that China is pressuring Pakistan and Iran to resume talks with the US. Brent crude (OIL) dropped nearly 3% to $91.30 per barrel. US natural gas (NATGAS) futures slipped 0.4%, while European TTF gas gained 1.2%.

• Precious Metals: Gold futures halted recent losses and returned to positive territory, climbing 0.4% to $4,068/oz. Silver posted stronger momentum, rising 1.8% to $58.70/oz.

• Cryptocurrencies: Digital assets traded lower, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling 1.6% to $64,194 and Ethereum (ETH) dropping 1.0% to $1,864.