S&P 500 – 7,499.36 (+0.79%)

Dow Jones – 52,319.20 (+0.26%)

NASDAQ – 26,213.72 (+1.52%)

• U.S. Stocks Rally to Close Strong Quarter: U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday to cap a rip-roaring second quarter that marked a sharp turnaround in Wall Street’s 2026 performance, with tech leadership continuing to power gains.
• Lawmakers Probe AbbVie and Merck Over China Trials: U.S. lawmakers have opened an investigation into AbbVie and Merck over clinical trials in China, reviewing whether their research activities could have indirectly supported Beijing’s military capabilities amid rising national security concerns.
• Nike Tops Estimates but China Weakness Weighs: Nike beat Wall Street expectations on both revenue and earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, but softer China sales and reliance on one-time margin support dampened investor sentiment.
• AWS Commits $1B to Embedded AI Engineering Push: Amazon Web Services is investing $1 billion into a new embedded engineering unit that places AI specialists directly inside customer organizations to accelerate real-world deployment of AI systems.
• Markets End Quarter on Mixed Tone Amid Fed and Geopolitical Optimism: Investors closed out the quarter buoyed by a Supreme Court ruling preserving Federal Reserve independence and optimism around potential U.S.–Iran peace talks, even as U.S. equities showed modest divergence with tech leading gains and the Dow lagging.
• S&P 500 On Track for Best Quarter Since 2020: Zooming out, the S&P 500 is pacing for a roughly 13.5% quarterly gain, its strongest performance since 2020, driven by broad tech leadership.
• Oil Extends Quarterly Decline: Oil prices continued to fall, with Brent and WTI both tracking toward a quarterly decline, reflecting shifting supply-demand expectations.
• Yen Slides to 40-Year Low: The Japanese yen fell to its weakest level in four decades against the U.S. dollar, intensifying speculation about potential intervention from Japan’s Ministry of Finance.
• Supreme Court Rejects Trump Birthright Citizenship Order: The Supreme Court struck down an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, delivering a major ruling on constitutional immigration policy.
• Job Openings Beat Expectations in Latest JOLTS Report: U.S. job openings for May came in stronger than expected, though hiring trends remained subdued, signaling a cooling but resilient labor market.
• Strategy Shares Slip After Policy Shift: Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR) pulled back after a strong rally, following its decision to step away from its long-standing “never sell” stance.
• Bitcoin Drops Below $60K on Weak Sentiment: Bitcoin slipped more than 1% and briefly fell below $60,000, putting it on pace for its weakest monthly performance since 2022.
• Digital Realty Falls on $3.5B Data Center Deal: Digital Realty Trust declined after announcing a $3.5 billion acquisition of stakes in three data centers from Blackstone, as investors weighed near-term financial impact.
• Constellation Brands Reports Revenue Beat but Sales Decline: Constellation Brands posted results above revenue expectations, but overall sales fell 3.3% year over year to $2.43 billion.
• Alphabet Rallies on Dow Inclusion: Alphabet surged 4.8% after joining the Dow Jones Industrial Average, though recent volatility reflects ongoing concerns around competition and capital allocation.
• AeroVironment Surges on Defense Demand: Drone maker AeroVironment rallied after strong earnings, with management citing escalating global conflicts as a key driver of defense demand.
• Merck and AbbVie Slide on China Probe: Merck and AbbVie both declined after reports of a congressional review into their China clinical trials and potential national security implications.
• Verizon Falls After Dow Exit: Verizon declined after being removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, though passive fund impact is expected to be limited.
• Super Micro Computer Drops on Investigation Report: Super Micro Computer fell after reports of a Taiwan office raid tied to an ongoing probe into alleged chip smuggling into China, suggesting potential expansion of earlier investigations.

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“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.”  — Warren Buffett

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Notable Stocks

• Nike (NKE)
• Merck (MRK)
• Alphabet (GOOGL)
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI)
• Verizon (VZ)

Weekly Notables

Anthropic Launches Drug Discovery Push as AI Giants Move Deeper into Healthcare

Anthropic is launching an internal drug discovery program aimed at developing AI-driven tools for pharmaceutical companies, marking a deeper push by the AI industry into healthcare. The initiative will focus on “neglected” diseases that traditional drugmakers often avoid, according to Anthropic’s life sciences head Eric Kauderer-Abrams, who said the company wants to build better AI models by working directly inside the drug development process.

Palo Alto and CrowdStrike Post Record Quarter as AI Cyber Threats Drive Demand Surge

Cybersecurity leaders Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) both closed out their strongest quarter on record, fueled by rising demand for advanced defense tools in an AI-driven threat landscape. The two stocks surged roughly 95% and 113% respectively from April through June, as investors bet that next-generation artificial intelligence systems are expanding—not shrinking—the need for enterprise cybersecurity.

What to Watch Ahead

The upcoming earnings season is kicking off unofficially on July 14 with banks leading.

All eyes this week are on labor market data, with a compressed holiday schedule bringing a steady flow of releases: job openings, ADP payrolls, and Friday’s June jobs report. Expectations point to a cooling but still healthy labor market, with around 113,000 jobs added and unemployment holding near 4.3%. 

July 1: ADP June employment change, June construction spending, June ISM Manufacturing PMI®, and expected earnings from General Mills (GIS).
July 2: June nonfarm payrolls, June unemployment, June hourly earnings, and June factory orders.
July 3: U.S. markets closed for Independence Day.
July 6: ISM June Services PMI®.
July 7: No major earnings or data expected.