This content was published on
July 27, 2026 - 10:16
4 minutes
(Bloomberg) — A sharp drop in oil prices triggered a relief rally in stocks and bonds after a lull in hostilities in the Middle East, starting a week packed with earnings and a stack of interest-rate decisions on a positive note.S&P 500 futures rose 0.8%. Technology stocks were set for a rebound as Nasdaq 100 contracts climbed 1.4%. Bond yields fell around the world, with the rate on 10-year Treasuries declining four basis points to 4.64%. The moves came after the US paused a nearly two-week run of strikes against Iran for a second night, sending Brent crude 6% lower to around $91 a barrel.Traders are finding some respite in easing oil prices after Brent surged by nearly a third this month, stoking concerns that central banks will need to tighten monetary policy to contain inflation. Questions over whether Big Tech firms’ spending spree on artificial intelligence is sustainable have also fueled a prolonged stretch of volatility.Still, traders remain cautious ahead of the busiest week of the earnings season, when a raft of megacaps including Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will put AI spending back under the spotlight. Another major event is the Federal Reserve’s rate decision on Wednesday, with markets still pricing around a one-in-three chance of an interest rate hike.“I expect a volatile week with the Fed, tech results, and a bunch of European inflation data coming out,” said Andrea Gabellone at KBC Securities. “Moreover, the Iran situation is still very fragile. For now, the President said that ‘all options are still open,’ so it will be difficult to put risk back on the table.”In Europe, the Stoxx 600 trimmed an early advance of 0.8% to trade up 0.5%. The European Central Bank’s Peter Kazimir gave Monday’s buoyant sentiment a reality check, warning that policymakers will need to raise rates at least once more to ensure that inflation risks don’t spin out of control.Luxury stocks rallied ahead of LVMH’s earnings later on Monday. The Swiss franc led major-currency gains against a weaker dollar.Corporate Highlights:AT&T Inc. has opened books on a five-part euro and pound sterling bond offering. CXMT Corp. surged as much as 535% in its Shanghai trading debut on Monday, propelling the memory chipmaker to become China’s largest onshore-listed company as investors piled into one of the country’s biggest artificial intelligence champions. Nvidia Corp. is in discussions to provide a guarantee of about $250 billion to help OpenAI lease computing from a giant data center project, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. AstraZeneca Plc reported higher-than-expected profit, buoyed by blockbuster cancer medicines, as focus turns to the company’s next generation of oncology drugs. Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman Corp. said its board of directors rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from Sazerac Co., which asked the company to reconsider the $15 billion bid that was rebuffed earlier this year. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksThe Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5% as of 9:13 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures rose 0.8% Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.4% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.8% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1396 The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 163.52 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7683 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3335 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.8% to $65,138.16 Ether rose 2.6% to $1,962.17 BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.64% Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 3.14% Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.99% CommoditiesBrent crude fell 6% to $91.02 a barrel Spot gold rose 1% to $4,091.79 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
