US stock markets closed mixed on Monday, July 27, 2026, as an aggressive midday reversal in technology and semiconductor sectors offset an early morning rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by $262.83 points (+0.50%) to close at $52,210.08, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped $43.74 points (-0.18%) to finish at $24,932.08. The S&P 500 index edged up slightly by $1.20 points (+0.02%) to end at $7,413.18. The early gains were driven by easing geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, which also led to a sharp drop in crude oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate falling $6.70 (-7.5%) to settle at $82.61 a barrel.
Chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks were the primary drag on the market. Nvidia led the decline, tumbling $4.99 (-4.99%) after reports suggested it might provide a $250 billion guarantee for an OpenAI data center project, raising concerns about circular financing within the AI ecosystem. Other notable chip sector losers included Sandisk, down over -11%; Advanced Micro Devices and Western Digital, both down more than -6%; Lam Research, ASML Holding NV, Micron Technology, Applied Materials, and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc, all down more than -5%; and KLA Corp, down over -4%. Micron Technology specifically shed $2.25 (-2.25%). Additionally, a new Chinese chipmaker, CXMT, surged $465 million (+465%) in its Shanghai debut, becoming the most valuable listed company in mainland China, further impacting sentiment for established chip firms.
Conversely, software stocks experienced a rally, supporting the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Workday led gainers, up over +8%, followed by Atlassian, up over +7%. Autodesk and Oracle both climbed more than +5%, while Salesforce rose over +4% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones Industrials. Adobe was up more than +4%, and ServiceNow, Palantir Technologies, and Intuit all increased by over +3%. Microsoft also saw gains of more than +2%, and Datadog was up over +1%. These gains were partly due to a rotation out of semiconductor and AI-infrastructure stocks into these more defensive enterprise software sectors.
Investors are also anticipating a busy week for corporate earnings, with roughly one-third of S&P 500 companies scheduled to report Q2 results. Megacap tech companies like Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft are expected to provide insights into their capital expenditure and AI monetization strategies. Forecasts suggest Q2 earnings could increase by +23%, driven largely by AI spending, which is expected to account for nearly 60% of the S&P 500's earnings-per-share growth. So far, earnings have been positive, with 86% of the 135 S&P 500 companies that have reported Q2 earnings beating estimates. The Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, expected midweek to maintain current rates, and the impact of lower oil prices on inflation are also key watch factors for investors this week.
