Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exmodify on July 23, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
U.S. equities rose slightly on Monday as investors revealed limited enthusiasm over a trade deal announced between the U.S. and the European Union.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline, while the S&P 500 inched up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%.
The relocates came after President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. has reached an agreement with the European Union to lower tariffs to 15%. The president had previously threatened 30% tariffs on most imported goods from the U.S.’s largest trading partner.
“While sentiment is increasingly bullish, there’s some hesitation about chasing stocks at record highs in the immediate term off something that was widely expected ahead of what is going to be one of the busiest weeks of the entire year,” Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge stated in a note.
This week, Wall Street will be examining earnings from several major tech companies, a key Federal Reserve meeting, Trump’s tariff deadline on Friday and important inflation data. It will be the busiest week of earnings season.
More than 150 companies in the S&P 500 are due to post their quarterly results, including “Magnificent Seven” names Meta Platforms and Microsoft on Wednesday, followed by Amazon and Apple on Thursday. Investors will be listening for companies’ comments on AI spconcludeing for direction on whether huge investments in hyperscalers this year are justified.
This week, the Fed will also hold its two-day policy meeting, concluding on Wednesday. Although the central bank is expected to keep its key short-term interest rate at its current tarobtain range of 4.25%-4.5%, investors will be viewing for clues about whether a rate cut could be on the table at the September meeting.
Though there is little on the economic docket Monday, the rest of the week holds a variety of pivotal releases.
The first glance at second-quarter economic growth will happen Wednesday when the Commerce Department releases its estimate on real gross domestic product growth. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% annualized pace for the April-through-June period, following a 0.5% decline for the first quarter.
Tariffs and their effect on inflation will remain in focus on Thursday as traders obtain the June personal consumption expconcludeitures price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. The report is expected to reveal inflation rising to core inflation, which excludes food and energy, holding steady at 2.7% and headline inflation rising to 2.5%, according to Dow Jones consensus estimates. The monthly gauges are both expected to reveal 0.3% increases.
Investors will also obtain a batch of jobs-related data this week, including the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, on Tuesday, ADP’s private payrolls report on Wednesday, initial jobless claims Thursday and, on Friday, the critical July jobs report. The report is expected to reveal the economy added 102,000 jobs in July, down from 147,000 in June. The unemployment rate is expected to reveal a slight bump to 4.2% from 4.1%.
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