Stocks Climb as Chipmakers Bounce and Oil Slides: Markets Wrap

This content was published on

July 20, 2026 - 13:38

5 minutes

(Bloomberg) — Stocks are getting a lift from a rebound in chipmakers at the start of a week in which traders will look to Big Tech earnings to gauge whether recent volatility persists or momentum returns. Oil swung from gains to losses.Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1.1% to end a three-day losing streak. S&P 500 contracts climbed 0.6%. An exchange-traded fund tracking chipmakers bounced 2.7% in premarket trading. In Hong Kong, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. rallied after releasing a preview of its latest flagship artificial-intelligence model.Traders continued to identify possible winners and losers from Chinese startup Moonshot AI’s latest breakthrough, a model that it says delivers performance rivaling top-tier US offerings at a fraction of the cost. While it uses computing resources more efficiently, it still requires vast amounts of memory to operate.Alphabet Inc. will kick off quarterly earnings from AI hyperscalers on Wednesday. The report comes at a time when chip stocks, the S&P 500’s biggest driver of 2026, have entered a bear market over worries that the likes of Alphabet won’t sustain vast outlays on the global buildout of AI infrastructure.“This week, we wait for the hyperscalers to report and especially pay attention to their monetization efforts and their capex intentions,” said Andrea Gabellone, head of global equities at KBC Securities. “This could calm the market.”In commodity markets, signs that the US and Iran were still engaged in diplomacy to end their conflict helped to erase an early advance in oil prices. A series of tit-for-tat attacks between the two sides initially fueled gains before US crude erased the moves to trade 2% lower near $80 a barrel.Bond yields in the US and Europe were marginally lower. The risk of price pressure emanating from the conflict nonetheless came into view as US gasoline prices climbed back above the $4-a-gallon mark at the pump.The dollar wavered. European stocks fluctuated between small gains and losses, while a benchmark for Asian equities dipped 0.2%. The mostly modest cross-asset moves were also evident in gold and Bitcoin.“The sentiment among investors remains positively biased, despite the setbacks in the tech space last week,” said Joachim Klement, head of strategy at Panmure Liberum. “This bodes well for renewed market stability this week.”What Bloomberg Strategists Say:“While today’s headlines look more constructive, US-Iran negotiations have been moving in the wrong direction for weeks. Transit through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt and energy infrastructure has come under attack. That’s set to weigh on bonds.”— Skylar Montgomery Koning, macro strategist. Click here for the analysis.Corporate Highlights:Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares rose as much as 5.4% on Monday after the company launched a preview version of its flagship Qwen3.8 Max model, describing it as second only to Anthropic PBC’s Fable 5. Moonshot AI has told investors it’s preparing to list in as early as six months, seizing the opportunity to tap capital markets after its latest model upended industry perceptions of China’s artificial intelligence capabilities and sent tech stocks reeling. Sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s Subs Inc. and its shareholders are looking to raise as much as $1.09 billion in an initial public offering, as consumer-oriented companies join the US listing rebound. Prysmian SpA signed a deal worth as much €5.5 billion ($6.3 billion) with Koch Inc.’s Molex to supply optical cables to data centers, tapping into the surge in investment in artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Ryanair Holdings Plc said first-quarter profit fell 34% as the Middle East conflict drove up oil prices and weakened demand, forcing the budget airline to cut fares during the peak summer travel season. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.6% as of 7:35 a.m. New York time Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.1% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% The MSCI World Index was little changed CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1438 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3475 The Japanese yen was little changed at 162.31 per dollar CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.4% to $64,723.27 Ether rose 1.1% to $1,885.51 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.54% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.12% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.96% CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $80.78 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.5% to $4,036.84 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.