US Markets Close 28 July 2026: Dow Adds 537 Points as China Chip News Sinks Semiconductors
S&P 500 close: 7,428.78 (+0.21%) Breadth: 7 of 11 sector ETFs higher Sentiment: mixed
The S&P 500 closed at 7,428.78 on 28 July 2026, up 0.21%, as a China-driven semiconductor selloff cost the index about 63 basis points and earnings beats across health care, staples and financials more than covered it. AMKR.US fell 24.74% to $45.69 after guiding third-quarter revenue to $2.0 billion to $2.1 billion against a $2.1 billion consensus and flagging a high-single-digit decline in communications revenue. South Korea's KOSPI fell more than 10% overnight and triggered a trading halt after ChangXin Memory Technologies listed in Shanghai and The Information reported a Chinese manufacturer is mass producing immersion DUV lithography machines.
What moved the index
Technology cost the S&P 500 about 63 basis points on 28 July 2026. Everything else added roughly 86.
- Technology: XLK.US -1.84% and SMH.US -3.45%, worth about -63 bps at a ~34% index weight. A fourth consecutive down day for semiconductors. ASML.US fell 4.37% on the DUV lithography report, and the equipment chain followed: AMAT.US -7.82%, LRCX.US -7.54%, KLAC.US -6.18%.
- Financials, communication services and consumer discretionary: XLF.US +1.27%, XLC.US +1.87%, XLY.US +1.48%, worth about +51 bps combined at a ~33% weight. None of the three carries semiconductor supply-chain exposure.
- Health care: XLV.US +2.36%, worth about +22 bps at a ~9.5% weight. IQV.US +13.94%, THC.US +7.92% and HCA.US +7.33% led, with AMGN.US +4.48% and REGN.US +4.20% behind them.
- Energy: XLE.US -1.35%, worth about -4 bps, as WTI fell 4.21% to $79.13 and Brent fell 5.21% to $83.76 after the US paused airstrikes on Iran to reopen diplomatic talks.
Together these account for roughly 19 of the 21 bps.
Session highlights
NVDA.US closed +0.25% while AMD.US fell 8.15% and MU.US fell 8.85%. The selling concentrated in memory, packaging, capital equipment and contract manufacturing, leaving chip designers alone.
- SK Hynix closed 14.65% lower in Seoul, Samsung Electronics lost more than 13%, and Kioxia fell 18.3% in Tokyo. The US listings followed.
- SNDK.US -14.25% to $1,096.10, now down more than 50% in a month on Chinese NAND competition and profit-taking in AI memory.
- CLS.US +10.04% after second-quarter revenue rose 62% to $4.70 billion and management raised full-year revenue guidance to $20.5 billion from $19.0 billion. SANM.US fell 17.46% the same day on a fourth-quarter revenue guide of $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion against a $3.52 billion consensus.
- AAPL.US briefly touched a $5 trillion market value, the second company to do so, a day before it reports. It closed +0.94% at $340.08.
- The Conference Board consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June, with the present-situation reading down 3.6 points to 114.9 as average US gasoline reached $4.10 a gallon.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Health care, XLV.US +2.36%
- Worst: Technology, XLK.US -1.84%
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 4.20 points
- Semiconductors underperformed their own sector: SMH.US -3.45% against XLK.US -1.84%, a 1.61 point gap.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| ITRI.US | +26.23% | Q2 record gross margin, FY revenue guide lifted to $2.37bn to $2.41bn |
| KNSA.US | +25.03% | Q2 revenue $243.6m beat $226.6m, FY guide lifted to $980m to $995m |
| LCID.US | +21.54% | Prince Alwaleed bin Talal disclosed a 5% stake, 19,513,000 Class A shares |
| IQV.US | +13.94% | Q2 beat, record net new bookings, FY guidance raised |
| RGEN.US | +10.90% | Q2 revenue $204m up 12%, adjusted EPS $0.54 from $0.37, FY raised |
| AMKR.US | -24.74% | Q3 revenue guide $2.0bn to $2.1bn versus $2.1bn consensus |
| CVLT.US | -19.70% | EPS $1.42 beat $1.05 consensus, sold regardless |
| SANM.US | -17.46% | Q4 revenue guide midpoint below $3.52bn consensus |
| STRL.US | -15.21% | No company announcement; positioning ahead of 3 Aug results |
| SNDK.US | -14.25% | CXMT Shanghai listing revived Chinese NAND supply fears |
After-hours earnings
Ford rose about 7% after the bell. It raised its 2026 forecast on adjusted earnings of 42 cents a share, though automotive revenue of $44.89 billion missed. Visa slipped 1.6% despite fiscal third-quarter net revenue of $11.6 billion, up 14%, and non-GAAP earnings of $3.32 a share, up 11%, after moderating its full-year growth guidance. Enphase traded higher on Q2 revenue of $291.85 million against a $289.92 million consensus and adjusted earnings of 47 cents versus 46 cents expected, with roughly 1.59 million microinverters and 113.8 megawatt hours of batteries shipped.
Notable announcements
- KO.US +5.00% on adjusted earnings of 97 cents against 93 cents expected and revenue of $13.38 billion against $13.16 billion, with the full-year outlook raised on zero-sugar demand and FIFA World Cup volumes.
- SHW.US +8.25% after a second-quarter beat and a raised full-year profit outlook.
- BA.US +4.76% on 171 commercial deliveries, up 14% from 150 a year earlier, against a $428 million net loss that included a $280 million Air Force One charge.
- GLW.US -12.10% to $126.01 on third-quarter revenue guidance of $4.9 billion to $5.0 billion and a slowdown in wireless carrier capital spending.
- CAT.US -3.71% following a 27 July broker downgrade to Hold, with results due 4 August.
Next session catalysts (ET)
- Tue 20:00 SK Hynix reports, the first memory print since the Seoul halt
- Wed 14:00 FOMC decision, with the funds target range expected to hold at 3.50% to 3.75% for a fifth straight meeting
- Wed MSFT.US and META.US report
- Thu AAPL.US and AMZN.US report
- Mon 3 Aug STRL.US second-quarter results
- Tue 4 Aug CAT.US second-quarter results
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