MarketBeat Week in Review – Key Market Trends for July 27–31, 2026
Investors focused on a Federal Reserve rate pause, earnings from four Magnificent Seven companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta), and rising U.S.-Iran tensions. These factors are linked to inflation concerns that have driven capital into defensive stocks like the Pacer US Cash Cows 100 ETF (COWZ). The ETF gained over 10% in July alone. Earnings reports highlighted a shift toward companies delivering strong free cash flow, especially amid scrutiny of AI spending. Microsoft and Amazon stood out for their performance, while chip stocks like Advanced Micro Devices faced declines due to market volatility. MarketBeat contributors also analyzed opportunities across sectors such as space tech, defense, healthcare, telecoms, and more. Looking ahead, the July jobs report on August 7 will be a key data point before further earnings reports begin next week.
Tickers: $AMD $AMZN $COWZ $GOOG $KUBTY $MCK $META $MSFT $SKHYV
Topics: AI spending defensive stocks Federal Reserve inflation Magnificent Seven earnings