Pre-market briefing July 31, 2026

Pre-Market Briefing for July 31, 2026

Today at a Glance

Briefs · earnings · signals, first Telegram · KakaoTalk channels

Previous Day Recap

On July 30, the New York market saw all three major indexes post sharp gains. The Nasdaq jumped 2.78% to close at 25,122.18, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.66% and the Dow rose 1.19%. A surge in Microsoft set the tone, with the technology sector rallying 5.5% to lead the market, while communications, consumer staples, and healthcare lagged. The volatility index plunged 17.57%, signaling a sharp easing of investor caution.

Current Market Sentiment

Pre-market futures are pointing higher across all three indexes, with Nasdaq futures up the most at 1.2%. Dow futures are up 0.6% and S&P 500 futures are up 0.4%. Amazon is driving risk appetite, jumping nearly 10% on 37% growth in cloud revenue, while Apple is dragging on the upside, falling more than 7% on weak services and Greater China results. The biggest variable today is the pre-market earnings from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and AbbVie due out around 21:00 Korea time.

Pre-Market News Roundup

Today's Events

$XOM — Market expectations call for Q2 EPS of $3.67 and revenue of $98.0 billion. With oil prices having traded above $100 per barrel during the quarter, the largest revenue print in 15 quarters is anticipated. Watch for margin improvement in refining and chemicals.

$CVX — Expectations are EPS of $5.56 and revenue of $62.0 billion, with profits projected to more than triple year over year. However, with capital expenditure around $4.7 billion versus $3.7 billion last year, keep an eye on how much this eats into cash flow.

$ABBV — Expectations are revenue of $16.81 billion and EPS of $3.66, with company guidance of $3.57–$3.61. The key question is how much Skyrizi's $5.52 billion and Rinvoq's $2.49 billion can offset the $730 million decline in Humira revenue.

$LIN — A supplier of industrial gases, serving as a temperature gauge for the manufacturing economy. With the industrials sector up 0.98% yesterday, watch for continued pricing power and any updates to full-year guidance.

$AMH — A U.S. single-family rental REIT (a company that invests in real estate and distributes rental income to shareholders). Rental rate growth and vacancy rates will show the lived-in temperature of the U.S. housing market.

Dividend Watch

Stocks in Focus

Microsoft surged 15.63% yesterday to close at $451.60, but the Relative Strength Index (an indicator that measures how stretched a stock's price is on a scale from 0 to 100) has climbed to 71.9, putting it in overbought territory, and it has also broken above the upper Bollinger Band (a band plotted above and below a moving average to show the range of price fluctuation). With short-term overbought signals stacking up, it is better to wait for a pullback rather than chase the stock higher.

Meta Platforms sits on the opposite end. It fell 8.04% to close at $538.50, breaking below the lower Bollinger Band, with the RSI dropping to 32 and entering oversold territory. However, the capex burden that drove the decline has not gone away, so this is a setup where technical rebound signals clash with earnings concerns.

Tesla remains in oversold territory with an RSI of 30.6, even after gaining 3.54% yesterday to close at $308.87. Since this is the first rebound out of oversold, wait to confirm that volume follows before making a decision.

Today's Action Plan

Stay composed today and have a great day.