In the early hours of July 23 Beijing time, all three major U.S. stock indices closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 52,218.58, down 0.01%. The Nasdaq closed at 25,690.90, down 0.57%. The S&P 500 finished at 7,498.96, down 0.14%. While the declines across the three indices were relatively modest, intraday volatility was notable—the Dow rose as much as 286 points in early trading before giving up all its gains and closing slightly lower.
The main drag on the broader market came from large-cap tech stocks. The Wind U.S. Tech Seven Giants Index fell 0.48%, with Meta Platforms down 2.58%, Microsoft down 1.86%, Google down 1.24%, Tesla down 1.30%, Amazon down 1.09%, and Apple down 0.56%. Overall, the Tech Seven Giants Index dropped about 1%.
Offsetting this weakness was a strong performance from the energy sector. Driven by a sharp rise in international oil prices—Brent crude futures climbed 3.36% to $94.07 per barrel, and WTI crude rose 2.95% to $86.83 per barrel—energy stocks rallied across the board. ExxonMobil gained 1.83%, Occidental Petroleum rose 1.79%. Bank stocks also mostly advanced, with Goldman Sachs up 1.16%. Gains in the energy and financial sectors partially offset losses in tech, resulting in only minor declines for the major indices.
The deeper drivers of this market pattern are oil prices and geopolitics. U.S. Secretary of State Rubio stated that Iran is "not serious about negotiations," keeping U.S.-Iran tensions high. Elevated oil prices are fueling inflation expectations, which in turn affect how the market prices Federal Reserve monetary policy. Against a backdrop of macro uncertainty and internal sectoral shifts, U.S. stocks are displaying a classic "weak indices, strong divergence" pattern.
SpaceX Breaks Below IPO Price Within a Month: What’s Behind the Valuation Reset?
SpaceX was one of the most watched stocks on July 22. The stock closed down 6.70% at $115.26, marking a new low since its June IPO. This price is about 14.6% below the IPO price of $135. Since peaking at its closing high on June 16, SpaceX’s market cap has shrunk by roughly $86 billion.
SpaceX’s continued decline is not the result of a single event, but rather a confluence of multiple structural factors. First, with less than 5% of shares available for trading at IPO, the stock was quickly added to the Nasdaq 100, forcing passive funds to buy and creating a brief "short squeeze." As market sentiment normalized, the valuation bubble began to deflate. Second, the company’s fundamentals are under pressure—Q1 2026 revenue was under $4.7 billion, with growth slowing from 33% in 2025 to 15.4%, and a quarterly net loss of $4.276 billion. Third, the market is significantly concerned about a large upcoming share unlock—starting in August, a substantial number of restricted shares will become freely tradable. In addition, short sellers hold about one-third of the float, maintaining downward pressure.
The SpaceX case highlights the market’s core anxiety over highly valued tech stocks: when grand narratives collide with hard financial data and liquidity pressures, valuation resets often happen abruptly. For companies relying on debt financing to drive AI infrastructure investment, the market is reassessing the risk-reward balance.
Nvidia Rises 2.3% Against the Trend: Can AI Hardware Continue to Outperform?
Amid broad weakness in large-cap tech, Nvidia bucked the trend, rising 2.30% to close at $212.06. The stock has rebounded for three consecutive sessions, up about 4.5% in total. Nvidia was the only member of the Tech Seven Giants to post a notable gain, making it the standout tech heavyweight of the day.
Nvidia’s outperformance is backed by solid fundamentals. The company recently announced that its Vera Rubin platform is expanding globally, with CoreWeave, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud all adopting the Vera Rubin NVL72 system. The market is refocusing on robust demand for AI computing power and the ongoing expansion of GPU applications. Following a sharp pullback in chip stocks, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is still down more than 13% in July, but some Wall Street institutions now see an attractive entry point.
Super Micro Computer’s surge further validates the independent logic of the AI hardware space. The stock jumped nearly 20%, with the company projecting Q4 gross margins of 15% to 17%, well above previous estimates of 8.2% to 8.4%, and announcing new orders exceeding $60 billion. Dell Technologies also soared 9%.
The strong performance of Nvidia and Super Micro Computer suggests that the AI hardware sector remains robust despite the broader market pullback. The market is now pricing the AI value chain with greater precision—demand for computing infrastructure is still recognized as certain, while AI narratives lacking clear profit paths are facing increased scrutiny.
Alphabet Beats Earnings but Falls Over 4% After Hours: The Double-Edged Sword of AI Capex
After the close on July 22, Alphabet reported its Q2 2026 results. Revenue came in at $119.8 billion, and earnings per share were $9.11, both exceeding market expectations. The cloud division posted its best-ever quarterly growth. However, Alphabet’s stock fell more than 4% after hours.
The immediate trigger for the negative reaction was a sharp upward revision in capital expenditure guidance. Alphabet raised its 2026 capex forecast to $195–205 billion, up $15 billion from previous estimates. For the first time, AI investments pushed the company’s quarterly free cash flow into negative territory. Analysts noted that while the market remains optimistic about AI, ongoing heavy spending in the near term will increase operating costs and weigh on investor confidence.
Tesla faces a similar dilemma. Second-quarter revenue reached $28.24 billion, up 26% year-over-year and ahead of expectations, but adjusted EPS fell 18% to $0.33. After investing $5.8 billion in capex to expand its AI and robotics businesses, free cash flow turned negative for the first time in over two years. Tesla’s stock dropped more than 4% after hours following the report.
The cases of Alphabet and Tesla reveal a core contradiction in today’s tech market: AI spending is eroding short-term profitability, and the market’s patience for payback periods is wearing thin. As Siebert Financial CIO Mark Malek succinctly put it: "Optimism about AI remains, but management now needs to deliver tangible results. Future earnings calls will increasingly focus on return on invested capital, not just AI ambitions."
Is Tech Money Rotating Out? Can Crypto Absorb the Liquidity Shift?
The simultaneous pressure on the Tech Seven Giants and the independent strength of AI hardware create a complex picture of capital flows. From a macro perspective, the high-valuation AI tech stocks that drew in capital through the first half of 2026 are now showing clear signs of correction, while previously lagging crypto assets have recently rebounded.
Historically, when the stock market peaks or enters a period of high-level volatility, it often coincides with capital flowing into crypto. The crypto market, as a "super amplifier" of global liquidity, naturally exhibits high-beta, lagging characteristics. When tech stock valuations are stretched and marginal returns on new capital diminish, some risk capital seeks new allocation opportunities.
The current market environment has some of the conditions needed for rotation: the divergent earnings season among tech giants is reshaping risk appetite, the double-edged effect of AI capex is prompting investors to reassess tech valuations, and after prior corrections, crypto assets now look relatively attractive. However, capital rotation is not a linear process—if a slowdown in AI capex turns into systemic deleveraging, crypto could face deeper liquidity pressures.
What’s Changing in the Nasdaq-Bitcoin Correlation? How Does Crypto Price U.S. Earnings Season?
The correlation between the Nasdaq and Bitcoin is a key indicator for understanding cross-market capital flows. From 2025 to 2026, Bitcoin showed a strong positive correlation with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, with correlation coefficients reaching as high as 0.88 in some trading windows. Crypto assets have repeatedly demonstrated sensitivity to broad equity momentum.
Recently, this correlation has shifted noticeably. Since July 1, Bitcoin has risen about 9%, while the Nasdaq has dropped around 6%. Bitcoin ETFs have seen consecutive days of net inflows. This divergence suggests that the crypto market is gradually decoupling from the short-term drag of U.S. tech stocks and is starting to chart a more independent course.
Throughout the month, Bitcoin has moved in tandem with AI concept stocks, driven by similar risk appetites and the fact that Bitcoin miners have pivoted to operating AI data centers. This fundamental link makes the interplay between the two markets more complex—expanding AI capex could pressure crypto via capital diversion, but it could also benefit the crypto ecosystem by boosting miner revenues and AI infrastructure demand.
U.S. earnings season impacts the crypto market primarily through risk appetite. When tech earnings beat expectations but stocks fall due to capex concerns, the core issue is "the quality of growth," not "growth itself." The same logic applies to crypto—patience for high-valuation assets is shrinking across the board. Both traditional tech stocks and crypto now need clearer profit paths to support their valuations.
From TradFi to Crypto: How Can Cross-Market Insights Inform Crypto Investors’ Decisions?
For crypto market participants, U.S. tech earnings season and sector rotation are becoming key macro variables. The capex decisions of the Tech Seven Giants directly affect the pace of AI infrastructure investment, which in turn impacts crypto miners’ operating costs and computing power expansion. The cloud business growth and AI spending plans of companies like Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon also reflect, to some extent, the pricing of computing power demand.
Gate has launched real U.S. stock trading services, allowing users to trade real stocks listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq, and other major U.S. markets directly with USDT on the platform. This product innovation enables crypto investors to observe and participate in both traditional financial and crypto markets within a single account system—no currency exchange, no cross-border remittance, and no need to open additional brokerage accounts. The platform supports over 10,000 U.S. stocks and offers 24/7 trading coverage.
The value of cross-market observation lies in helping investors build a more comprehensive macro narrative. When the Nasdaq is under pressure but Bitcoin remains resilient, understanding the drivers behind this divergence offers more actionable insights than simply tracking price moves. The split performance during tech earnings season, marginal changes in AI capex, and the impact of geopolitical risks on oil prices—all these traditional market variables are now directly influencing crypto market risk appetite and capital flows.
Summary
U.S. stocks closed on July 22 with a classic "weak indices, strong divergence" pattern. The three major indices posted slight declines, but sector-level differences were significant: SpaceX fell over 6% to a new post-IPO low, highlighting ongoing pressure to reprice high-valuation tech stocks; Nvidia rose 2.3% against the tide, showing that the independent bullish logic for AI hardware remains intact. Alphabet and Tesla both beat earnings but fell after hours, revealing deep market concerns about AI capex eroding profitability.
For the crypto market, the split in tech earnings season is reshaping cross-market risk appetite and capital flows. The correlation between the Nasdaq and Bitcoin has seen a temporary divergence, with crypto assets showing resilience as U.S. tech stocks come under pressure. Understanding this cross-market transmission mechanism can help crypto investors build a more systematic decision-making framework that bridges macro narratives and micro data.
FAQ
Q: What were the exact closing numbers for the three major U.S. indices on July 22?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,218.58, down 0.01%. The Nasdaq closed at 25,690.90, down 0.57%. The S&P 500 closed at 7,498.96, down 0.14%.
Q: Why has SpaceX stock continued to hit new post-IPO lows?
SpaceX closed down 6.70% at $115.26, about 14.6% below its $135 IPO price. The main reasons include a tiny initial float leading to a valuation bubble, slowing fundamentals and ongoing losses, a major share unlock coming in August, and persistent selling pressure from a high short interest.
Q: Why did Nvidia rise while most tech stocks fell?
Nvidia rose 2.30% to close at $212.06. The global rollout of the Vera Rubin platform, continued expansion in AI computing demand, and the view among some institutions that chip stock valuations are now attractive after recent pullbacks all supported Nvidia’s outperformance.
Q: Why did Alphabet’s stock fall after beating earnings expectations?
Alphabet’s Q2 revenue and EPS both beat expectations, but the company raised its 2026 capex guidance to $195–205 billion. For the first time, AI investments pushed quarterly free cash flow negative, raising concerns about short-term profitability.
Q: What is the current level of correlation between the Nasdaq and Bitcoin?
From 2025 to 2026, Bitcoin and the Nasdaq had correlation coefficients as high as 0.88 in certain trading windows. However, since July 1, Bitcoin is up about 9% while the Nasdaq is down about 6%, indicating a temporary divergence between the two.
