Markets News, July 15, 2026: Indexes End Higher After Earnings Flurry; Inflation Reading Unexpectedly Declines; PayPal Jumps on $53B Bid Report

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Aaron Rennie

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A former Senior Publishing Editor on the Dow Jones Newswires team at The Wall Street Journal, Aaron earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University.

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Updated July 15, 2026

04:10 PM EDT

PayPal shares jumped Wednesday following a Reuters report that Stripe and Advent had teamed up and made a $53 billion bid to take over the payments firm.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images

Major stock indexes closed higher across the board as investors digested a raft of earnings reports and wholesale inflation reading unexpectedly declined.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Wednesday up a respective 0.6%, 0.4%, and 0.3%.

Big Tech performed. All of the Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech stocks but Tesla (TSLA) finished in the green, with Apple (AAPL) leading gains at 4%. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) shares soared 17% to lead the S&P 500 and Nasdaq following a Reuters report that Stripe and private-equity company Advent made a more than $53 billion offer to buy the payments firm.

Before the bell Wednesday, the June Producer Price Index declined 0.3% when no change was expected, as energy prices dropped. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was at 4.55% at 4 p.m. ET, down from 4.61% before the reading.

“The Fed will likely see June’s cool inflation as a justification for holding interest rates steady at the decision near the end of this month,” Fifth Third Commercial Bank Chief U.S. Economist Bill Adams said in written commentary. “Even so, it’s hard to feel too excited about last month’s drop in producer prices, which largely reflected lower energy prices—prices which rebounded in the first half of July as energy traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed.”

Yesterday, the three major indexes closed higher after the June Consumer Price Index reading came in tamer than expected, though IBM shares limited gains after the company issued preliminary results well below expectations. 

IBM (IBM) sank 25% yesterday after CEO Arvind Krishna warned that the tech giant’s second-quarter software and infrastructure results were worse than expected as clients shifted spending “toward servers, storage, and memory purchases to secure supply-constrained infrastructure ahead of expected price increases.” Shares rebounded mildly early Wednesday, but finished down nearly 3% further.

Memory stocks retreated, with U.S.-listed shares of South Korean firm SK Hynix (SKHY) ending down 9% after soaring 27% Tuesday. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) pulled back 6%, with components Micron Technology (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), and Seagate Technology Holdings (STX) down roughly 5.5% to 9%. SpaceX (SPCX) shares for the first time fell below $135, the price at which they sold to the public last month, before recovering a bit.

In post-earnings moves, Elevance Health (ELV) shares sank 8.5%; Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) declined nearly 3%; Morgan Stanley (MS) added less than 1%; ASML (ASML) rose 2%; and BlackRock (BLK) advanced more than 6.5%.

Oil prices were modestly higher. U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, wrote on X that “forces began launching a wave of strikes against Iran. The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.” West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, recently were 1.2% higher at $80.25 a barrel, while Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were up 1.1% at $85.65 a barrel.

Bitcoin was trading around $64,900, up modestly over the past 24 hours. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was 0.4% lower at 100.52. Gold futures were 0.2% lower at $4,060 an ounce.

July 15, 2026 04:09 PM EDT

Why Fuel Is Getting More Expensive? It Goes Far Beyond the Strait of Hormuz

FROM 1 hr 51 min ago

If you’re wondering why it costs so much to fill up your tank these days, the simple answer is that the war in Iran is causing an energy crisis that is pushing up prices. And while that’s much of the story, the woes of the fuel market actually extend to hotspots all over the world, energy analysts say.

As of Wednesday, a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $3.89 nationwide, up 10 cents over the week and well above the $2.98 prewar price, according to AAA. Diesel fuel, crucial to transportation and industry, was $4.94, well above the $3.76 it cost before fighting began in March. Those prices could go much higher if the fighting continues, and supply disruptions from Russia, China, and potential threats elsewhere in the Middle East bite into crude oil and the fuel produced from it.

The relief U.S. drivers got from gasoline prices in June is at risk of evaporating. Alongside higher gas prices come renewed risks to the trajectory of inflation and the overall economy.

This frame grab taken from AFPTV video footage on July 12, 2026 shows cargo ships anchoring near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan.

AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images

Gas could average over $4 a gallon over the next week, Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a commentary. Diesel fuel is likely to cross $5 a gallon by Friday, he wrote.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

July 15, 2026 04:04 PM EDT

Bitcoin Clawed Its Way Back Over $65,000. Here’s Why—and What to Know Now

FROM 1 hr 57 min ago

Bitcoin is clawing its way back.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency on Wednesday broke $65,000, a level it hasn’t seen since in about a month. (It’s now back below that price.) Coin-linked stocks showed modest gains ,with Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN), rising at least 2%.

Digital asset experts attribute the recent strength to risk-on vibes, with Tuesday’s cooler-than-expected June CPI report inspiring some investors to rethink their hawkish Fed policy expectations. And while traders now think the Clarity Act, a key piece of crypto legislation that could boost bitcoin prices if it becomes law, has lower odds of being passed this year, at least one crypto analyst says there’s reason to be more optimistic.

The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency cracked $65,000 on Wednesday, a level it hasn’t seen in weeks.

Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Also potentially bullish: Spot bitcoin ETF flows on Tuesday turned positive, bucking recent trends, following the June inflation report. Funds saw some $181 million in net inflows yesterday, according to Farside Investors. That could have been a one-off, some experts say, reflecting temporary effects of a brief truce between the U.S. and Iran that recently broke down. But some are now a bit more optimistic, and looking toward the July Fed meeting for signs of more dovishness.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim

July 15, 2026 03:02 PM EDT

Pentair Stock Dives Following Outlook Cut, CFO Exit

FROM 2 hr 59 min ago

Pentair shareholders will chalk Wednesday up as a day to forget.

Pentair (PNR) stock plunged 15% to lead S&P 500 decliners after the water treatment firm cut its full-year sales guidance, issued weak preliminary quarterly results, and announced its finance chief resigned.

The London-based firm now sees 2026 sales to be down roughly 4% to 7%. It previously guided for full-year sales to rise 2% to 4%. It said the change was “mostly attributable to destocking of inventory in the Pool channel and right sizing of channel inventory in preparation for the 2027 pool season.”

For the second quarter, Pentair expects adjusted EPS to be around $1.12, down from $1.47 to $1.50, and sales of about $930 million, down 17% from the prior outlook of up approximately 1%, “primarily due to the adverse impact of Pool channel inventory.”

In addition, Pentair said CFO Nicholas Brazis left the company on July 10 “to pursue another opportunity at a private company.” The firm said that Bob Fishman, its former Executive Vice President and CFO, has been appointed Interim Executive Vice President and CFO, effective immediately.

Including today’s sharp decline, shares are down 38% this year.

July 15, 2026 02:15 PM EDT

Escalating Geopolitical Tensions Haven’t Moved Gold Prices. Here’s Why Some Experts Think They Could Still Climb This Year

FROM 3 hr 45 min ago

The U.S. and Iran are back to fighting. Gold remains unmoved.

Spot gold prices are at around $4,000, leaving the price of the precious metal essentially flat since the start of the second half, and down more than 5% year to date. Silver, which recently traded around $59, also hasn’t done much in the last couple of weeks, and has declined almost 20% so far this year. A slate of analysts has cut their forecasts on gold prices, pointing to hawkish statements from the Fed, though they still appear to be optimistic that a comeback could materialize in the back half of the year. It just might not be because of the metal’s perceived role as a hedge against geopolitical uncertainty.

One theory for why gold might rise again: It has entered what historically has been its best seasonal period, which lands between the 134th and 207th trading days of the year, according to SentimenTrader’s Jay Kaeppel, which this year runs from July 9 to Oct. 21. (To be sure, Kaeppel also said seasonal trends shouldn’t be viewed as buy or sell signals, but rather a clue to be considered alongside others.)

Spot gold prices are roughly flat since the start of the second half of the year.

Photo by Uli Deck / picture alliance via Getty Images

Another trend—the lack of momentum in the gold trade—may suggest a headwind in flagging demand for a subsection of investors. “Chinese retail investors have show strong tendency to follow trends, i.e. buying on the way up and fading when the rally stops,” Citi analyst Kenny said in a Tuesday report. In other words: They’re not interested unless gold does something.

Read the full article here.

–Crystal Kim