NEW YORK, July 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday as a sell-off in semiconductor equities was offset by falling oil prices.
U.S. investors brace for a key Federal Reserve interest rate decision and a slate of major corporate earnings reports this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 262.83 points, or 0.51 percent, to 52,210.08. The S&P 500 added 1.2 points, or 0.02 percent, to 7,413.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 43.74 points, or 0.18 percent, to 24,932.08.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the green, with consumer staples and communication services leading the gainers by going up 1.58 percent and 1.46 percent, respectively. Energy and utilities led the laggards, falling 2.01 percent and 1.32 percent, respectively.
Investors weighed escalating concerns over circular financing within the AI ecosystem, prompting a widespread retreat across chipmakers. Nvidia led the downward move, tumbling 4.99 percent. Peer semiconductor firms Advanced Micro Devices and Teradyne dropped more than 5 percent and more than 4 percent, respectively, while Micron Technology shed 2.25 percent.
The pressure on technology shares was partially counterbalanced by optimism surrounding a temporary pause in military hostilities between the United States and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery Monday plunged 6.70 U.S. dollars, or 7.5 percent, to settle at 82.61 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery dropped 8.42 dollars, or 8.7 percent, to close at 88.36 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The sustained pullback in oil prices is expected to ease near-term cost pressures ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest rate decision on Wednesday. U.S. central bank officials are widely anticipated to maintain target rates at current levels as they evaluate the path of core inflation.
Meanwhile, Wall Street is bracing for the busiest period of the second-quarter corporate reporting cycle, with roughly one-third of S&P 500 components scheduled to release financial disclosures this week. Investor attention will focus heavily on capital expenditure guidance and AI monetization metrics from mega-cap technology leaders Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple, and Amazon, particularly after aggressive infrastructure spending updates from Alphabet and Tesla sparked a sharp sector drawdown earlier in the month.
"This is a week with more than its fair share of potential surprises, good and bad," Chris Larkin, head of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, said in written commentary. "Geopolitics and oil prices may be the biggest wild cards, but a bullish response to strong Mag-7 earnings isn't a given, especially if AI spending levels continue to raise eyebrows. And even though the Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged this week, the possibility of a rate hike is higher than it's been in a while. Choppy trading could persist, even if the ultimate direction is to the upside." ■