Stock market news: Opening bell, July 26, 2018

President
Donald Trump meets with European Commission president Jean-Claude
Juncker in the Oval Office of the White House.
AP/Evan Vucci

Here is what you need to know. 

Trump announces deal with EU to avoid full-blown trade
war. President Donald Trump and European
Commissioner Jean-Claude Junker struck a preliminary deal on
Wednesday that works towards the goal of “zero tariffs, zero
barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.” 

 Oil flirts with $70. West Texas
Intermediate crude oil neared the $70 a barrel mark in overnight
trading after Saudi Arabia closed the Bab al-Mandeb
Strait, a strategic shipping lane, following the attack of
two large oil tankers by Iranian-backed Houthi fighters.

A $3 trillion market that’s boldly ignoring the trade war is
headed for a rude awakening. UBS says the
credit market is in for a rude awakening and offers a few
trade recommendations for investors who want to protect
themselves.

Facebook
crashes on earnings. Shares plunged more than
20% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the social-media giant
reported user metrics that missed across the board and warned
that revenue-growth rates will decline by “high single digit”
percentages in the coming quarters. 

Qualcomm drops its $44 billion bid for
NXP. Qualcomm will pay NXP at $2 billion
breakup fee after announcing on Wednesday that it will
not renew its two-year-old bid to acquire its Dutch
competitor due to a regulatory standoff. 

Ford lowers its full-year earnings outlook. The
automaker posted mixed quarterly results and joined peers General
Motors and Fiat Chrysler in lowering its 2018 full-year earnings
outlook, saying it now sees adjusted earnings per share of $1.30
to $1.50, down from $1.45 to $1.70. 

AMD beats. Shares rallied more than 5% late
Wednesday after the chipmaker beat on both the top and bottom
lines while posting its highest quarterly net income in seven
years. 

Stock markets
around the world are mixed. China’s Shanghai
Composite (-0.74%) lagged in Asia and Germany’s DAX (+1.28%)
leads in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.40% near
2,835.

Earnings
reporting remains heavy. American Airlines,
Comcast, McDonald’s, and Spotify are among the names reporting
ahead of the opening bell while Amazon, Chipotle Mexican Grill,
Intel, and Starbucks release their quarterly results after
markets close.

US economic keeps coming. Initial claims and
durable goods will both be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US
10-year yield is down 1 basis point at 2.96%.