{"id":65594,"date":"2026-07-29T06:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-and-energy-lead-gains-as-markets-await-microsoft-and-meta-results\/65594\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T06:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:07:13","slug":"tech-and-energy-lead-gains-as-markets-await-microsoft-and-meta-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-and-energy-lead-gains-as-markets-await-microsoft-and-meta-results\/65594\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech and Energy Lead Gains as Markets Await Microsoft and Meta Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. stock futures and premarket<\/a> activity indicate a positive start for the major indexes on Wednesday, July 29th, 2026. Investors are navigating a busy mid-week session characterized by a heavy influx of corporate earnings and significant movements in the energy sector. As the market prepares for the opening bell, the focus remains squarely on the technology sector's heavyweights and a sharp rebound in crude oil prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Market Index Performance and Futures<\/h2>\n

The major market indexes are showing resilient performance in premarket<\/a> trading. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ<\/a>), which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq, is leading the pack with a gain of 0.35%. This strength is mirrored by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>), representing small-cap stocks, which is up 0.28%. The State Street SPDR S&P 500<\/a> ETF Trust (SPY<\/a>) is also in positive territory, rising 0.24%.<\/p>\n

Conversely, the Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average is the outlier this morning, with the State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA<\/a>) slipping 0.16%. This divergence suggests a rotation back into growth and technology names ahead of pivotal earnings reports later today. In the bond market, yields are ticking slightly higher, causing the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT<\/a>) to decline by 0.17%.<\/p>\n

Energy Sector Surge and Volatility<\/h2>\n

One of the most striking developments this morning is the surge in energy commodities. The United States Oil Fund (USO<\/a>) has jumped 4.22%, a movement that is providing a massive tailwind to energy equities. The State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE<\/a>) is up 1.31%, while the State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP<\/a>) has gained 1.34%.<\/p>\n

Volatility is also seeing a slight uptick, with the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>) rising 0.45%, indicating that while the market is trending higher, investors remain cautious about potential surprises in upcoming economic data or policy shifts from the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n

Major Corporate News and Premarket Movers<\/h2>\n

The semiconductor space is seeing active trading this morning. Micron<\/a> Technology (MU<\/a>) is up 1.8% on high volume, followed by Intel Corp (INTC<\/a>), which has gained 2.6%. Other active movers include SK hynix Inc. (SKHY<\/a>), rising 1.1%, and Sandisk<\/a> Corporation (SNDK<\/a>), which is up 1.8%.<\/p>\n

In more speculative moves, T3 Defense Inc. (DFNS<\/a>) has skyrocketed 60.2% in premarket hours, while Autonomix Medical, Inc. (AMIX<\/a>) is up 54.6% on unusual volume. On the downside, Steakholder Foods Ltd. (STKH<\/a>) has tumbled 37.6%, and Fiverr International Ltd. (FVRR<\/a>) is down 17.3%.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Market Events and Earnings<\/h2>\n

The spotlight of the day will shine brightest after the market close. Tech titans Microsoft<\/a> Corp (MSFT<\/a>) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (META<\/a>) are both scheduled to report their quarterly results. With Microsoft<\/a> expected to post an EPS of $4.23 and Meta $7.18, these reports will be critical in determining the trajectory of the broader tech sector. Other notable after-hours reports include Lam Research Corp (LRCX<\/a>), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM<\/a>), and Ford Motor Company (F<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Earlier today, several companies reported before the bell, including Automatic Data Processing (ADP<\/a>), Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX<\/a>), and Humana Inc. (HUM<\/a>). Investors are also looking ahead to tomorrow's massive lineup, which features Apple Inc. (AAPL<\/a>) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN<\/a>), making this one of the most consequential 48-hour periods for the stock market this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. stock futures and premarket activity indicate a positive start for the major indexes on Wednesday, July 29th, 2026. Investors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,6824],"tags":[95,3710,3741,4380,5001,5030,5657],"class_list":["post-65594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-nasdaq","tag-federal-reserve","tag-meta","tag-stock-market","tag-earnings-season","tag-energy","tag-microsoft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}