Tech Titans in Focus: S&P 500 & Nasdaq Hold Steady as Apple & Microsoft Earnings Loom

Wall Street holds its breath as two trillion-dollar giants prepare to report.

Tech investors are playing a high-stakes waiting game this week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite barely budged in early trading—everyone's too busy staring at the calendar. July 25 marks D-Day for Apple and Microsoft earnings, and the market's acting like a crypto trader before a major token unlock.

Will Big Tech deliver? Or will this be another 'growth story' that somehow misses projections? (We see you, metaverse division.) Either way, grab your popcorn—when these tech behemoths sneeze, the entire market catches a cold.

Apple, Microsoft earnings next week

Wall Street’s positive week came amid wins, such as Google parent Alphabet’s revenue beat, which buoyed markets.

The U.S and Japan struck a trade deal, and President Donald TRUMP visited the Federal Reserve headquarters. However, Trump’s criticism of the Fed chair was also evident during the visit, with the issue of interest rates being a significant part of the broader picture.

Commenting on the Fed’s inflation fight and the U.S. central bank’s MOVE not to cut rates over the last few months, Bill Eigen, JPMorgan Asset Management chief investment officer, suggested the Fed will eventually cut. However, they won’t be as aggressive and “zero rates are not walking through the door any time soon.”

Eigen was speaking to CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’.

“Zero rates are not walking through the door any time soon,” says JPMorgan’s Bill Eigen. “That’s something fixed income investors have to get comfortable with and stop living in the past.”https://t.co/lQfWwNhn3g

Stocks are bracing for a key week ahead.

A lot of what’s next for the Fed will be on the agenda when the agency holds its two-day policy meeting next week. Investors will also be keen on economic data with the monthly U.S. jobs report also on the release schedule. In the earnings corner, key quarterly results will feature Big Tech giants Apple (AAPL), Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT).

Aug. 1 deadline and U.S.-Japan deal in focus

On the tariffs front, the coming week includes Aug. 1, the date of Trump’s deadline for trading partners to have agreed trade deals with the United States. If not, “reciprocal” tariffs will become effective – which Trump recently said will be between 15% and 50%.

Related to this and likely to dent enthusiasm are reports that the U.S.-Japan trade deal faces pressure amid differences on the percentage of profit share. When announcing the deal, Trump said Japan will invest $550 billion in the U.S., with Washington keeping 90% of the profits on American soil. Japan reportedly sees it differently.