S&P 500: Earnings, oil and Asia set the week’s focus

The S&P 500 traded at 7,457, 2.10% below its highest level this year, as market participants awaited a busy corporate reporting week and reviewed weekend U.S.-Iran military exchanges that pushed oil higher.

Corporate earnings dominate the calendar. Several large U.S. companies report from Monday through Thursday. Tesla and Google are scheduled to release results on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday: GE Vernova, Philip Morris, Texas Instruments, AT&T and Moody’s. Charles Schwab, Chubb, Danaher, General Motors and Northrop Grumman report on Tuesday. Thursday’s slate includes Intel, T-Mobile, Raytheon, Blackstone, Honeywell, Newmont Mining and Lockheed Martin.

Banks and financial firms that reported earlier showed stronger profit growth, helped by large initial public offerings and active trading desks. Aggregate corporate earnings growth so far stands at about 24.2%, above analysts’ consensus near 23%. Some companies have disappointed: IBM warned of slowing growth and its shares fell more than 20% in a single session, and Netflix removed certain key metrics from public reporting.

Over the weekend U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged strikes. U.S. strikes hit several targets, including civilian infrastructure, and caused multiple fatalities. Iranian attacks killed two U.S. personnel and resulted in additional injuries. Iran’s supreme leader issued a warning that the conflict could escalate.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil approached $90 a barrel after the weekend strikes. Last week’s inflation data showed headline consumer inflation eased to 3.5% in June from 4.2% previously.

Markets in Asia also factored into sentiment. South Korea’s KOSPI has fallen more than 20% from its peak this year. South Korean markets were closed on Friday; traders will watch Monday’s reopen for further price action. Significant moves in major Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would likely influence U.S. semiconductor and memory stocks.

In China, a company introduced a new AI model, the Kimi K3, last week; market reactions were followed by declines in some U.S. AI-related shares on Friday.

Investors will monitor corporate reports, energy prices, the reopening of Asian markets and any further geopolitical developments as trading progresses this week.