The S&P 500 ended higher on Tuesday as gains in Boeing and Coca-Cola helped offset tumbling chip stocks ahead of quarterly reports from Apple and other tech companies this week.

Global markets have been volatile this month as investors worry ‌that Alphabet, Microsoft, ⁠Amazon ⁠and other technology heavyweights may be overspending on AI data centers as they race to dominate the emerging technology.

Microsoft rose ahead of its report on Wednesday, while Amazon was near flat ahead of its results on Thursday. Apple climbed and lifted its stock market value to $5 trillion for the first time. The iPhone maker reports its results on Thursday.

The S&P 500 healthcare and consumer staples indexes each rallied, while declining chipmakers kept the tech index in negative territory.

“What has been behind the ⁠move into ‌these non-tech names? Part of it is value,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. “GDP is solid, the labor market continues to churn ⁠along and, in a lot of places, there’s evidence that consumer spending is reaccelerating.” Coca-Cola rallied after the beverage company raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts. Boeing jumped after the airplane maker generated positive free cash flow as its turnaround plans gained momentum.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 17.07 points, or 0.23%, to end at 7,430.25 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 58.88 points, or 0.24%, to 24,873.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 546.61 points, or 1.05%, to 52,756.69.
FED DECISION IN FOCUS
The ‌Federal Reserve is due to announce its interest-rate decision on Wednesday. Traders see a 71% probability that the central bank will leave rates unchanged and a 29% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike, according ⁠to CME’s FedWatch tool. Higher rates could further pressure AI companies that are becoming more dependent on debt financing. Corning tumbled after third-quarter sales forecasts missed estimates, while contract research firm IQVIA Holdings jumped 12% after lifting its annual profit forecast. Oil prices offered some broader relief, with Brent falling 4.8% to settle at $84.09 a barrel on expectations that tensions in the Middle East and in Ukraine would ease as the White House hosted Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pushed back on claims that his AI startup supports a ban on open-weight models to support its competitive position in a letter after Anthropic was notably absent from a letter signed by many leading AI firms.

Leading companies in the AI space, including Nvidia, Palantir and others, participated in the letter and announced a partnership in the Open Secure AI Alliance, which looks to develop and share more open technologies to improve security in the AI era as risks can stem from both open and closed models.

Amodei wrote in a post on Anthropic’s website, “Anyone who has read my past writing should know that I don’t regard such bans as a useful measure, but let me state it clearly so that there is no doubt: Anthropic has never advocated for a ban on open-weight models.”

“But I don’t agree with the letter’s assertions that open-weights models necessarily make it easier to develop safeguards or that broad access to capabilities necessarily helps defenders more than attackers. It seems at least as likely to me that the opposite will be true,” he wrote, adding that biological weapons may have an edge over the defenses against them.

PALANTIR CEO WARNS US AGAINST EUROPE’S AI REGULATION PATH, URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO NOT BAN OPEN MODELS

Amodei said he views open-weight models that don’t have dangerous capabilities as a public good, as their cost is limited to the computer needed to operate them, and they provide value to businesses, developers and researchers.

He added that he agreed with much of the open letter, particularly the value of open-weights in expanding access to the AI economy, strengthening competition and giving customers more control.

“To summarize my and Anthropic’s position, we have not and are not advocating for a ban on open-weights models as a category. We should instead focus on keeping powerful chips out of authoritarian hands, stopping industrial-scale distillation, and requiring safety testing of all sufficiently capable models, open and closed,” Amodei wrote.

NVIDIA, MICROSOFT URGE US TO AVOID BROAD RESTRICTIONS ON OPEN AI MODELS

Amodei’s letter was published hours after Palantir CEO Alex Karp, whose company signed the letter supporting the use of open-weight AI models, said in an exclusive interview on FOX Business Network’s “The Claman Countdown” that resistance to competition could lead to a less dynamic tech industry like in Europe’s.

Karp said he’s “not anti-Anthropic” or opposed to all closed models, but that “If you want to win, you have to compete on the battlefield.”

OPENAI CO-FOUNDER WARNS AI MODELS ARE BECOMING HARDER TO CONTROL AFTER ITS MODEL HACKED ANOTHER FIRM

“Our job has to be to have the best AI in the world, if you’re going to actually say we’re going to restrict all the products to U.S. commercial, but they’re not going to be restricted abroad, which they’re not, you’re de facto setting up a two-stage thing where no one can claim we have the best products in the world. It’s complete insanity,” Karp said.

“We are building our platform in the U.S. government on the open-weight side with Nvidia. We can get the best performance in the world with a totally American company, using American open-weight companies and American GPUs. We don’t have to hide behind some kind of fake thing,” Karp said.

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The 2026 Commonwealth Games are underway in Glasgow, Scotland, bringing together athletes from across the Commonwealth of Nations for a 10-day, 10-sport competition that runs through the first weekend of August. Here’s a full breakdown of the schedule, venues and events for this year’s Games.

When and Where the Games Are Being Held

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games run from Thursday, July 23, when the opening ceremony took place, through Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. The event marks the fourth time Scotland has hosted the Commonwealth Games, following the 1970 and 1986 editions in Edinburgh and the 2014 Games, which were also held in Glasgow.

Officially known as the XXIII Commonwealth Games, this year’s competition also carries added historical significance. The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be the first to be held since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III as Head of the Commonwealth.

A Scaled-Back but Still Global Field

This year’s Games feature a more streamlined program than previous editions, though the event still draws a substantial international field. The Games are expected to bring together 74 Commonwealth Games Associations and roughly 3,000 athletes competing across 215 medal events in 11 sports total, with competitors representing their nations and territories under their own flags. According to organizers, the athletes will compete across four venues situated within an eight-mile corridor in Glasgow, a compact footprint designed to make the event more accessible and appealing for spectators.

A Streamlined 10-Sport Program

Due to the scaled-back nature of the 2026 Games, several sports that have featured in previous editions were excluded from this year’s official roster, including cricket, hockey, badminton, wrestling, squash and rugby sevens. In their place, organizers built a 10-sport program, including six fully integrated Para Sports, which they describe as featuring the largest-ever Para Sport medal event program in Commonwealth Games history.

Athletics: The Heart of the Games

Athletics remains the centerpiece of the Commonwealth Games program, as it has been since the sport’s introduction at the 1911 Inter-Empire Games, the recognized precursor to the modern Commonwealth Games. Track and field events are being held at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow from July 27 through Aug. 1.

This year’s athletics program includes several notable changes from past Games. Out-of-stadium events have been dropped for this edition, but organizers have reintroduced the mile race, branded as the Commonwealth Mile for both men and women, connecting to the sport’s strong Commonwealth tradition, along with the introduction of a new mixed 4×400-meter relay event. A record program of 16 para-athletics events is also being contested as part of this year’s Games.

Tuesday, July 28, marks a particularly high-profile day on the athletics calendar, featuring a showdown among sprinters in the men’s 100-meter heats and semifinals, along with continued competition in the 200-meter and 400-meter events.

Swimming and Aquatics

Swimming remains one of the Games’ most closely watched events, with competition unfolding across the first week of the schedule. Tuesday’s fifth day of competition features notable swimmers including Kyle Chalmers and other top international competitors in the pool, part of an ongoing swimming program that has drawn significant attention throughout the Games’ opening days.

3×3 Basketball

Among the sports carried over from the previous Games, 3×3 basketball is being staged at the SEC Centre in Glasgow between July 24 and 29, marking the discipline’s second appearance at the Commonwealth Games following its debut at the last edition. This year’s competition has been expanded, with the able-bodied tournaments growing to 12 teams each and the wheelchair basketball tournaments expanding to eight teams each, reflecting organizers’ emphasis on the Para Sport program.

Track Cycling

Cycling events will close out the Games’ second week, held exclusively on the track this year rather than including road cycling events as in past editions. Track cycling is being held at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow from July 30 through Aug. 2, marking the 22nd appearance of cycling at the Commonwealth Games, with both able-bodied and para-cycling categories contested across the four-day competition window.

Lawn Bowls

Lawn bowls also returns to this year’s program with a notable format change from previous Games. The competition is being held at the SEC Centre from July 24 through Aug. 2, marking the 22nd time bowls has featured at the Commonwealth Games, having appeared in every edition except 1966. This year’s competition is being contested in an indoor format for the first time in the event’s history, alongside a reduced overall program compared with past Games.

Venue Overview

Beyond the venues already mentioned, the SEC Centre in Glasgow is hosting multiple sports simultaneously throughout the Games, including 3×3 basketball, indoor bowls, boxing and judo, reflecting the compact, multi-venue approach organizers have taken to keep the footprint of this year’s event contained within Glasgow’s city limits.

How to Follow the Schedule

Fans looking to track daily events throughout the remainder of the Games can consult the day-by-day schedule published on the official Glasgow 2026 website, which breaks down sessions by sport, venue and time, using local Glasgow time throughout the competition. Broadcast coverage has also been organized to provide what organizers describe as an action-packed schedule spanning each day of competition, given the proximity of the various venues to one another.

With the Games now in their second week, competition continues to build toward its conclusion on Aug. 2, when the final events in cycling, athletics and lawn bowls are scheduled to wrap up, followed by the closing ceremony. Fans following along in the coming days can expect continued high-profile athletics finals at Scotstoun Stadium, medal rounds in 3×3 basketball at the SEC Centre, and the start of track cycling competition at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome as the 2026 Commonwealth Games move into their final stretch.

Apple’s market value briefly topped $5 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, making it the second only company to reach the milestone after Nvidia, according to a Reuters report.

Shares climbed as high as $342.89, lifting Apple’s valuation to $5.036 trillion. The stock later pared gains, and was trading 0.2% higher at $337.70, giving the company a market capitalisation of about $4.96 trillion.

Apple became the world’s most valuable company earlier this month, overtaking Nvidia, which had held the top spot since June 2025 and was the first company to cross the $5 trillion mark.

Apple’s rally this year has been fueled by strong product demand and its decision to avoid the costly AI spending race that has strained cash flow at Big Tech rivals.

After struggling to develop competitive AI models in-house, Apple turned to Google’s technology to power new services, including a revamped Siri. The approach has helped it avoid the heavy infrastructure costs that have raised investor concerns about returns on soaring data-center investment.

Demand has also benefited from Apple’s decision to keep iPhone prices unchanged last month while raising prices for MacBooks and iPads. Analysts said buyers rushed to purchase its flagship device ahead of expected price increases later this year.
The iPhone maker also launched a US device-leasing program on Tuesday through payments provider Klarna. Monthly payments start at $17.99 for an iPhone, $11.99 for an Apple Watch or iPad and $24.99 for a Mac.”Apple has resisted the AI spending race, betting that customer experience – not infrastructure investment – will ultimately determine the winners,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.

“The new leasing program is a clever response: it doesn’t reduce the price of an iPhone, but it changes how consumers perceive the cost by replacing sticker shock with a predictable monthly payment.”

Including Tuesday’s gains, Apple shares have risen 24% this year, comfortably outperforming the other six members of the “Magnificent Seven.”

Apple is scheduled to report third-quarter results after Thursday’s market close, with analysts expecting revenue to rise more than 15% from a year earlier.

Apple shares have climbed over 20% in the last one month and 58% over one year.

The news about Games Workshop’s screen adaptations came in its annual financial report, external, where it announced record-high results.

It said pre-tax profit was up 4.9% to a record £275.7m for the fiscal year.

Last year, there had been concerns the company’s models, which are manufactured at its headquarters in Nottingham, would be hit by US president Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Chief executive Kevin Rountree said the company had paid about £12m in tariffs, but was able to reclaim £7.8m following a US Supreme Court ruling.

Following changes to US rules, Rountree said, the company expected to pay about £13m in tariffs in the next business year, and would continue trying to boost efficiency to save money.

“Unlike some companies, we do not consider tariffs as an exceptional item, but rather part of the uncertainty of operating globally,” he said.

Rountree also doubled down on Games Workshop’s stance on Gen AI.

He said the company does not use it in “our product design nor on the creation of our IP, this will protect the integrity and ownership of our IP”.

However, he said it was “difficult for us to say we are not using AI outside of the Warhammer studio” because tools appear to be “automatically included in third party software whether we like it or not”.

It was “something we are just going to have to potentially live with and monitor carefully,” he added.

Critics have offered starkly divided reactions to “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the fourth Tom Holland-led entry in the franchise, with reviews ranging from enthusiastic praise for the film’s more mature tone to sharp criticism that it fails to deliver on its ambitions. The movie hits theaters July 31, with critic reviews now unembargoed following months of anticipation.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, best known for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the film follows Peter Parker into a new phase of adulthood after the events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in which the people who love him no longer remember who he is.

Praise for Tom Holland’s Evolution

Several reviewers pointed to Holland’s performance as a clear high point of the film, describing his portrayal as a meaningful evolution from earlier installments. One review from The Northern Rivers Times described the film as a thrilling, emotional and confident return for Marvel’s most popular hero, calling it one of the standout superhero films of 2026 and praising Holland’s performance as arguably his strongest turn as Spider-Man yet, noting that the teenage uncertainty of earlier films has given way to a more mature hero carrying real emotional weight.

RogerEbert.com’s Brian Tallerico offered a similarly positive assessment of Holland’s dramatic range, writing that the actor proves more than capable of handling the shift from what he called “Spider-Boy” toward a fuller “Spider-Man,” even as he found the surrounding film ultimately more transitional than impactful.

A More Grounded, Darker Tone

Multiple reviews highlighted the film’s shift toward a grittier, more grounded aesthetic compared with previous entries in Holland’s run. The film embraces a darker, more grounded tone without sacrificing the humor, heart and exhilarating action that have defined Holland’s Spider-Man, according to one review, a sentiment echoed by DiscussingFilm’s assessment that the movie returns to Spider-Man’s street-level comic roots while still delivering spectacular, largely practical action sequences.

Strong Action, According to Multiple Critics

The film’s action sequences drew consistent praise across several reviews, even from critics who had more mixed feelings about the overall story. DiscussingFilm described the swinging sequences as a shot of adrenaline, highlighting a sequence involving Spider-Man sliding across skyscrapers and shifting in and out of first-person perspective, while noting that a significant portion of the effects appeared to be achieved practically rather than through computer generation.

A More Critical Take From Variety and IndieWire

Not every review was positive, with some prominent critics expressing significant reservations about the film’s execution despite its ambitions. Variety’s chief film critic, Owen Gleiberman, described the movie as a “mature” but arduous adventure that, despite good action, tries too hard, characterizing Cretton’s effort to craft a thoughtful, humane comic-book film as ultimately detracting from its own goals.

IndieWire’s review was considerably harsher, arguing that the film fails to fully capitalize on its premise, framing its story about Peter Parker and MJ overcoming mass amnesia as falling short of a truly satisfying resolution to the franchise’s ongoing arc.

A Story Grappling With Grief and Isolation

Several reviewers focused on the film’s thematic ambitions, noting that it pushes Holland’s version of the character into more emotionally complex territory than previous installments. RogerEbert.com described the film as centering on the classic tension between heroism and difference in a way that feels newly resonant for this version of Peter Parker, one who now understands grief and heartbreak more directly than in earlier films, even as the review noted that the filmmakers seemed hesitant to fully develop some of their strongest ideas.

A Deep Supporting Cast

The film brings back key figures from Holland’s prior Spider-Man films while introducing several notable new additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe roster. Zendaya returns as MJ, and Jacob Batalon reprises his role as Ned, joined by newcomers including Sadie Sink in a closely guarded role, Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Michael Mando returning as Mac Gargan, also known as Scorpion, and Tramell Tillman in a significant supporting role.

Early Social Media Reactions Skewed Positive

Ahead of the formal critic reviews, early social media reactions from those who attended advance screenings were largely enthusiastic, offering a preview of the more positive critical response that would follow for some outlets. One entertainment journalist wrote that watching the film felt like a throwback to the kind of effortlessly charming, entertaining movies that defined an earlier era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while another reviewer described Cretton as bringing viewers back to a side of Spider-Man not fully explored since Sam Raimi’s earlier films in the franchise.

Other early reactions specifically praised the film’s emotional ambition, with one described feeling the movie balanced several storylines that ultimately came together effectively, even while acknowledging it could feel overwhelming at points. Another reviewer singled out Sadie Sink’s storyline as particularly weighty within the film’s broader narrative.

Box Office Expectations Are High

Beyond the reviews themselves, industry trackers are projecting a major opening weekend for the film once it debuts in theaters. The film is tracking to have the biggest opening weekend of any movie released in 2026, according to Forbes, positioning it as one of the most closely watched box office events of the year regardless of the mixed critical reception.

With “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” set to open in theaters Thursday, July 31, audiences will soon have the chance to weigh in on a film that has already generated a notably wide range of critical opinion, from those who see it as a genuine evolution for Holland’s Spider-Man to others who view it as an overstuffed, occasionally frustrating entry in an increasingly crowded franchise. Whether the film’s box office performance ultimately aligns with its high pre-release tracking numbers may hinge on how audiences respond to the more mature, grief-focused direction that has divided critics ahead of its release.

Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath said the broking firm may see some portion of its revenue knocked off after Closing Auction Session (CAS) takes effect, adding that things will “get a little more complicated” from August 3 onwards.

Stock exchanges BSE and NSE are introducing the system for stocks with F&O contracts. It is a structured trading window held at the end of the trading day. During this period, market participants place buy and sell orders to determine a single closing price for a security through an auction-based mechanism.

Kamath explained that this is not a new concept globally, as major exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) already use versions of a closing auction to determine closing prices. “Today, the closing price of a stock in India is based on the volume-weighted average price of trades during the last 30 minutes. Under CAS, buy and sell orders will instead be collected and matched at a single equilibrium price,” the Zerodha CEO said in a post on X.

The change is aimed at addressing two issues, according to Nithin Kamath. First, passive funds tracking indices have to execute large orders near the end of the day to match the closing price, and these orders can move prices while they are being executed, increasing tracking error. This will likely be resolved through the CAS system.

Secondly, large orders placed in the final few minutes can disproportionately influence the closing prices of stocks and, in turn, the indices they are part of, Kamath noted. Since CAS pools all orders and matches them at a single price, influencing the close becomes harder, he added.

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Different market timings for what you are trading

The Zerodha CEO highlighted that this means that the Indian stock market will now see three different market end times depending on what the investor is trading. Stocks with F&O contracts will stop continuous trading at 3:15 pm and move into CAS, while all other stocks will continue trading until 3:30 pm. Index and stock F&O contracts meanwhile will trade until 3:40 pm.
“Now that broking is listed and people are looking more closely at the business, the honest bit: this will probably knock off some revenue, perhaps around 1–5% of brokerage income,” he said, adding that the more immediate challenge however would be explaining why different parts of the market now appear to close at different times. “We’re braced for the flood of questions,” he said.