Today's War Room Trading Recap

Catalysts Behind Today’s Sell-Off

1. Weak July Jobs Report: U.S. employment added only 73,000 jobs, well below expectations, and unemployment edged up to 4.2%. Prior months were revised lower by approximately 258,000 combined.

2. New Trade Tariffs: President Trump announced tariffs ranging between 25% and 41% on imports from countries including India, Taiwan, Canada, Switzerland, and South Africa. Some relief deals were in place for nations like Cambodia and Lesotho. Markets reacted sharply to escalating trade tensions.

These twin pressures stoked concerns over growth, unsettling investors and sparking a risk-off mood.

Sector & Stock Highlights

• Tech stocks suffered heavily: Nvidia dropped ~2.5%; Amazon declined ~6–8.6% despite solid Q2 results due to a weak outlook. Apple slipped 2.4% over tariff-related expense projections ($1.1B impact).

• Other tech and growth names like Microsoft, Tesla, Coinbase, and MicroStrategy also declined despite earnings beats, while Reddit surged ~21% on strong guidance. First Solar climbed 4.8%; Eastman Chemical and Fluor dropped sharply (~20–30%) on weak results Barron’s.

Bond Market & Rates Shift

• Treasury yields declined notably, with the 2-year yield hitting a ~5-week low (~3.74%) and the 10-year yield also rallying, amid a surge in demand for safer assets and expectations for earlier Fed rate cuts Investors+1The Times+1.

Global Markets

• European stocks also declined sharply: Germany’s DAX off ~2.7%, France’s CAC 40 down ~2.9%, and the Stoxx 600 off ~1.9% Financial Times.

• Markets in India posted steep losses: Sensex dropped ~586 points, prompting Nifty below 24,600. Key drivers included U.S. tariff pressures on exports, FII outflows, dollar strength, and pharmaceutical stock declines

🧾 Today’s Takeaways

• Weak labor data and tariff shocks weighed heavily on markets, eroding optimism from recent earnings strength.

• Rate cut expectations grew, reflecting investor concerns over economic slowdown and declining job momentum.

• Tech bears led the charge, overshadowing strong income reports from many mega-caps.

• Defensive equities and bond demand surged, while equities broadly shifted lower.

🕰 What’s Next?

• Fed Meeting next week is pivotal: investors are pricing in an earlier move given the evolving economic backdrop.

• Upcoming GDP data and next Friday’s jobs report will be key markers to assess whether this is a temporary setback or a broader slowdown