Good evening, this is Markets Desk with your end-of-week wrap.
Equities closed out July on a constructive note, with the S&P five hundred gaining seven-tenths of a percent on the session, led by Amazon and the broader megacap complex. The Nasdaq one hundred added six-tenths, and the Dow finished up roughly half a point, capping a month that saw the momentum trade suffer its worst drawdown since two thousand.
Shifting to Washington, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump has ordered the military to strike Iran as soon as this weekend. The strikes are intended to pressure Tehran toward a negotiated surrender, according to officials cited by the paper. Trump had earlier cast doubt on diplomacy, repeating threats of forcible retaliation, and separately rejected intelligence suggesting Iran was behind a cyberattack on Minnesota's water infrastructure.
Meanwhile, a significant structural question is forming around the Federal Reserve. The New York Times reports that incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh raised the idea of reducing the number of scheduled policy meetings at this week's FOMC gathering. Currently the committee meets eight times annually, and any reduction would reshape how markets price rate decisions and interpret central bank communication going forward.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
