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July 23, 2026 - 11:21
4 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell as unease over ever-higher artificial intelligence spending outweighed an otherwise strong earnings report from Alphabet Inc., while crude rose for a fifth straight day and pushed bond yields higher.Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.3%. Alphabet fell more than 3% in premarket trading after raising its capital spending forecast to as much as $205 billion for the year, an increase from an earlier projection of $190 billion and more than double its 2025 outlay. S&P 500 contracts were down 0.3%.Also casting a pall over markets was the continued rise in oil prices as the Red Sea became another flashpoint for shipping disruptions in the Middle East, lifting Brent above $98 a barrel. Germany’s 10-year bond yield hit its highest since 2011 as traders ramped up expectations for tighter monetary policy.While the outlook for higher hyperscaler spending boosted chipmakers in Asia, the performance of their US peers was mixed. Earnings from Texas Instruments Inc., the biggest maker of analog and embedded processing chips, failed to excite investors, who had bid up the company’s shares almost 70% this year.Tesla Inc., which reported in Wednesday’s other major earnings release, fell more than 5%. Profit tumbled despite a strong quarter for its electric-vehicle business, with a surge in spending resulting in its first cash burn in two years.Alphabet’s earnings landed just as markets were grappling with whether hyperscalers can justify pouring ever more money into AI. Still, chipmakers and other companies supplying the technology’s buildout are reaping the rewards as demand for their products and services remains sky-high.“There are always some doubts as to whether these massive investments will deliver, but I think it’s a false question: these tech companies cannot afford not to spend big,” said Mabrouk Chetouane, head of global market strategy at Natixis IM. “The momentum on capex is in full swing and that means that the strong demand for semiconductors isn’t going away.”In Europe, the Stoxx 600 fell 0.5% on a busy day for earnings, with both STMicroelectronics NV and Nestle SA getting punished for disappointing results.“There’s a clear acceleration trend both on oil prices and on bond yields,” said Juliette Cohen, strategist at CPR Asset Management in Paris. “We have breached a number of symbolic thresholds like 5% on the UK and 4% in France. All of this is starting to have an effect on equity markets.”Corporate Highlights:SK Hynix Inc. has capped the amount of its South Korea-listed shares that can be converted into its US-traded American depositary receipts at 2.5% of total shares outstanding BNP Paribas SA reported better-than-expected revenue and profit for the second quarter as its stock traders blew past analysts’ estimates. UniCredit SpA said it will likely assume control over Commerzbank AG soon as Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel moves to complete one of Europe’s largest bank deals ever. TotalEnergies SE said second-quarter profit surged as the Iran war boosted prices of crude and refined products, offsetting a drop in profits in its gas business. Nestle SA agreed to sell a 50% stake in its bottled water business to Platinum Equity for about €3 billion ($3.4 billion) in cash as Chief Executive Officer Philipp Navratil carries through on a plan to prune underperforming units. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5% as of 10:19 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.2% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1412 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 163.36 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7701 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3369 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin fell 0.3% to $65,691.85 Ether rose 0.2% to $1,929.9 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.67% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.19% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 5.07% CommoditiesBrent crude rose 4.6% to $98.41 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.9% to $4,095.03 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
