Stocks Fall as 30-Year Bond Yields Surge After Fed | The Close 7/29/2026

Macroeconomic & Market Trends - The S&P 500 closed lower by 1.5% and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 2%, entering correction territory down 11% from its all-time high [20][23] - The 30-year Treasury yield climbed above 5.2% to its highest level since 2007, reflecting significant yield curve steepening [2][22] - The Federal Reserve maintained rates while facing questions regarding credibility and persistent inflation concerns [1][6] Technology Sector & Hyper-scalers - Microsoft reported fourth-quarter revenue of 90 billion dollars, beating the 87 billion dollar estimate, driven by Azure cloud revenue growth of 43% [28][31][64] - Meta Platforms forecasted third-quarter revenue between 61 billion and 64 billion dollars, while maintaining high capital expenditures for artificial intelligence infrastructure [27][78] - Qualcomm projected fiscal year 2029 non-handset revenue to reach 40 billion dollars, up from previous 2024 projections of 22 billion dollars, as the company transitions toward the artificial intelligence ecosystem [25] - Arm Holdings reported expected revenue between 1.33 billion and 1.43 billion dollars, with smartphone demand acting as a quarterly drag [33] Consumer & Retail Sector - Starbucks reported same-store sales growth of 7.9% for the quarter, surpassing the 5.7% estimate, and anticipates 6.5% growth for the fourth quarter [35]