US Stocks Stagnate as Earnings and Tariff Tensions Keep Investors on Edge

Wall Street's pulse flatlines—another day of dead-cat bounces as corporate earnings and trade war tremors leave traders yawning.

Tariff whiplash meets earnings déjà vu

The S&P 500's caffeine-free performance proves even trillion-dollar markets can nap through geopolitical drama—though Goldman Sachs analysts still somehow charged $5M for that insight.

Portfolios in purgatory

With FAANG stocks moving slower than a Boomer's 401(k), crypto traders laugh into their cold wallets—another reminder that decentralized markets don't give two satoshis about Trump-era trade policies.

U.S.-China trade agreement

Stocks have reacted resolutely to the tariffs headwinds since an initial dump earlier in the year. 

Investors are likely to consider comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that the U.S.-China trade agreement struck in mid-May might get an extension as the Aug. 12 deadline approaches. Bessent hinted at this while speaking to Fox Business on Tuesday, noting that he will be meeting his Chinese counterparts in Sweden this coming week.

The two trading partners agreed a 90-day pause to most of the heavy-hitting tariffs in May, buoying stocks. An Aug. 1 deadline for tariffs against other major U.S. trading partners is still in place.

Eyes on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell

The outlook across the U.S. Treasury yields is delicately poised ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech in the morning, with the Fed chair increasingly under pressure to step down. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Powell does not need to step down, but he has an opportunity to work on his legacy as the central bank comes under scrutiny over issues such as the $2.5 billion.

Trump has also signalled he won’t fire Powell (such an action WOULD likely lead to a legal challenge). Still, investors will be keen on what the central bank chief says about tariffs and the U.S. economy ahead of the Fed’s upcoming meeting on July 29.