Stocks open higher after Big Tech earnings and inflation data lift market sentiment

Wall Street opened with a green screen as investors digested a one-two punch of encouraging news: Big Tech earnings rolling in strong and inflation numbers that finally stopped looking scary. The S&P 500 ticked up 0.21% on July 28, with the broader market riding a wave of optimism ahead of what might be the most consequential earnings week of the quarter.

The inflation picture is finally cooperating

The Consumer Price Index for June, released on July 14, showed headline inflation dropping to 3.5% year-over-year. That’s a meaningful decline from 4.2% in May, the kind of move that makes Federal Reserve watchers exhale a little.

Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, eased to 2.6%. For context, that’s getting tantalizingly close to the Fed’s 2% target.

The reaction in risk assets was swift. Bitcoin opened at approximately $64,975 on July 15, a 4.4% jump from its previous open. Ethereum posted similar gains.

Magnificent 7 earnings take center stage

The week of July 28-30 is stacked with Magnificent 7 earnings. Microsoft reported on July 29, with Apple and Amazon both scheduled for July 30.

Apple briefly touched a $5 trillion market cap during this period.

The July 28 gains weren’t exclusively tech-driven. Boeing and Coca-Cola contributed meaningfully to the S&P 500’s advance, suggesting the rally had at least some breadth beyond the usual suspects.

What this means for crypto investors

The 4.4% Bitcoin jump following the June CPI release wasn’t a coincidence. When inflation cools, traders start thinking about rate cuts. When they think about rate cuts, they buy things that benefit from cheaper money, and crypto sits near the top of that list.

Traders should also watch how markets react to the actual earnings numbers from Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. What matters is guidance, specifically any commentary about AI spending, consumer demand, and enterprise software trends.

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