LIVE: Intel, Nokia, Nasdaq, and the Dow report earnings

Intel expanded its agentic AI push with new rack-level systems and separate inference components built around Intel Xeon processors.

The company worked with SambaNova and Foxconn to show a production-ready rack system designed for inference and autonomous AI workloads. Vector Core Compute, also known as VC2, introduced a separate agentic cloud setup that brings together Intel Xeon processors, SambaNova RDUs and Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.

Intel also unveiled Xeon 6+, its next data-center processor. It is the company’s first server chip manufactured with the Intel 18A process and is designed to maintain performance when power limits are tight.

The company is also gaining more ground in robotics and physical AI. More than 130 customers are either using or evaluating Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and Intel Core Series 3 processors for edge-based AI and robotic systems.

Intel introduced OpenVINO Physical AI alongside the new hardware. The open-source software gives developers tools to run robotics models that handle vision, language, decision-making and movement control.

For gaming, Intel launched the Arc G-Series, a new processor range created for upcoming handheld gaming devices.

Intel also formed partnerships with Foxconn, Siemens, Hitachi, Echo Neurotechnologies and Greenstone Biosciences. The companies will work together on AI and computing products built for specific industries using Intel processors and custom silicon.

Its networking business added the Ethernet E835 portfolio, with speeds ranging from 10 gigabits per second to 200 gigabits per second. The lineup targets cloud platforms, AI systems, businesses, edge computing and telecommunications networks.

Intel’s chipmaking division also reported progress across several projects. Intel 18A-P entered risk production on the schedule previously given to customers and partners. The updated manufacturing platform offers improvements in performance, power use and heat resistance.

Intel Foundry has also started large-scale production of selected Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips, known internally as Panther Lake. Those processors are being made with ASML’s EXE High-NA EUV equipment.

The company is widening its custom-chip business beyond networking hardware and infrastructure processing units. Intel and Fortinet will jointly develop the Fortinet Security Processor 6 using Intel’s chip design, packaging and manufacturing technology.

Intel also announced a €5 billion investment to add more factory capacity. The additional production will support Xeon 6 processors and future Xeon chips manufactured with the Intel 3 process.

Capacity is growing at Intel’s Bowers campus as well. The expansion will increase the company’s mask-production operations, which support the development and manufacturing of current and future advanced chip technologies.

Alphabet and Tesla shares sank Thursday after both companies laid out plans to spend far more on artificial intelligence, adding to investor concerns over how much the AI buildout is costing.

Tesla dropped 14.5%, its steepest one-day fall since March 2025. Alphabet lost 7.1%. The selloff erased roughly $200 billion from Tesla’s market value and about $300 billion from Alphabet’s.

The two companies had reported negative free cash flow for the second quarter a day earlier.

Alphabet also increased its 2026 capital spending outlook to between $195 billion and $205 billion, up from its previous range of $180 billion to $190 billion. The Google parent said spending could climb again in 2027.

Tesla’s capital expenditure jumped 142% from a year earlier to $5.79 billion during the quarter. The company now expects to spend more than $25 billion this year.

Amazon shares fell 4.6% as the pressure spread across major technology names. The decline cut about $120 billion from the company’s market capitalization.

The broader market also closed sharply lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 506.93 points, or 0.97%, to 51,711.65. The S&P 500 declined 1.21% to 7,408.30, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.15% to 25,137.69.

Oil prices moved the other way. Brent crude rose 7% to $100.69 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained 6% to $92.19. Both contracts reached their highest levels since before the United States and Iran agreed last month to end their war.

The jump in crude pushed bond yields higher. The 10-year Treasury yield briefly moved above 4.7%, reaching its highest point since January 2025. The 2-year yield climbed as high as 4.37% during the session.

Intel shares rose about 4% after Thursday’s closing bell after the chipmaker delivered stronger second-quarter numbers than analysts had expected and gave an upbeat forecast for the months ahead.

Adjusted profit came in at 42 cents per share, twice the 21 cents projected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Revenue reached $16.1 billion, comfortably above the $14.42 billion estimate.

Sales grew 25% from the same period last year, giving Intel its quickest quarterly expansion since 2011. Demand tied to the buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure helped lift purchases of the company’s processors used in data-center servers.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said, “AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute.” Lip-Bu added that continued execution should allow the company to secure lasting growth across its central processing unit business.

The stock had already climbed more than 170% in 2026 by Thursday’s close, following an 84% gain in 2025. Last year’s rise came as the U.S. government acquired a 10% stake in Intel through a broader push to strengthen domestic semiconductor production.

More recently, however, Intel’s rally has lost momentum. The shares fell 28% during July before Thursday’s earnings release.

For the current quarter, Intel expects adjusted earnings of 38 cents per share and revenue between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion. Wall Street had forecast 27 cents per share on sales of $15.1 billion.

Nasdaq posted a stronger second quarter than analysts expected, helped by major new listings, including the SpaceX IPO, and continued demand for its market-data products.

Net revenue reached $1.5 billion, marking a 15% increase from the same period last year. The Capital Access Platforms division produced much of that growth. Revenue from the unit, which covers listing services and stock and options data, rose 19% to $621 million.

Adjusted earnings came to $1.07 per share, beating the average analyst forecast of $0.98. On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings were $0.89 per share, up 14% year over year. Non-GAAP diluted earnings increased 25% on both a reported and adjusted basis.

Nasdaq ended the quarter with $3.3 billion in annualized recurring revenue, an increase of 11% as reported and 12% organically from the second quarter of 2025. Annualized software-as-a-service revenue grew 12%, or 15% organically, and made up 38% of total recurring revenue.

The Financial Technology business generated $539 million, rising 16% on a reported basis and 15% organically.

Index revenue climbed to $271 million, representing growth of 38%, or 35% after adjustments. Nasdaq-linked products attracted $109 billion in net inflows over the past 12 months, including $51 billion during the second quarter of 2026.

The company paid $174 million in dividends and spent another $356 million buying back its own shares during the quarter. It also reduced its debt by a net $162 million.

Nasdaq Chair and CEO Adena Friedman said all three company divisions delivered double-digit growth. Adena also highlighted that assets held in index-linked exchange-traded products moved beyond $1 trillion, while the SpaceX debut became the largest initial public offering ever completed on the exchange.

She said changes driven by artificial intelligence, upgraded market systems and a more demanding regulatory and risk environment are increasing the need for Nasdaq’s technology and financial infrastructure.

Markets are now putting an 82% chance on the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its September meeting, based on pricing tracked by CME’s FedWatch tool. That figure was under 53% one week earlier.

Most traders still expect policymakers to leave the benchmark rate between 3.50% and 3.75% when they meet next week.

Even so, the possibility of an immediate move has grown quickly. Futures now show almost a 38% chance of a 0.25-percentage-point increase, compared with less than 12% last week.

Thursday’s labor report gave the Fed more room to concentrate on inflation, especially as higher energy costs threaten to push prices up again. New applications for unemployment benefits fell to 187,000 during the week ending July 18, the Labor Department said.

That was the lowest weekly total since 1969, when the U.S. population was only about 60% of its current size.

Prediction-market traders have also become more confident that rates will rise in September. On Kalshi, the probability of a quarter-point increase reached 48% by midday Thursday, up from roughly 30% a week earlier.

Economists remain less convinced that tighter policy is coming. The consensus estimate collected by FactSet still shows no rate increase in 2026. Forecasters instead expect the Fed to reduce borrowing costs by a total of half a percentage point in 2027.

Gold and silver prices have recovered some ground after weeks of heavy losses, though several banks doubt either metal will return to its record level anytime soon.

At press time, spot silver stood at $59 an ounce. That marked a gain of roughly 6.3% from last week’s closing price of $56. Spot gold rose about 2.4% during the same stretch to $4,119 an ounce.

ING commodity strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said the move appeared to come from traders buying metals after the recent selloff. They did not see evidence that the broader economic or geopolitical picture had changed enough to drive a lasting rally.

Both metals are still far from the records they set in late January following a powerful run that began in 2025. Gold reached a peak of $5,589.38 an ounce, while silver climbed as high as $121.67.

The market has since turned less favorable. Elevated interest rates and a stronger U.S. dollar have made non-yielding assets less attractive.

At the same time, the Iran war has pushed oil prices higher, raising fresh inflation concerns and changing expectations around U.S. monetary policy.

Warren and Ewa said Middle East tensions were still providing some support for precious metals. However, investors are now balancing weaker U.S. economic figures against the possibility that expensive energy will keep inflation elevated.

They expect gold to continue reacting closely to oil-market developments and changing forecasts for U.S. interest rates. Silver could perform better than gold if industrial metals remain firm while investors continue seeking defensive assets.

Silver also benefits from its use in industry. ING said stronger confidence across the industrial-metals market, particularly in copper, has helped support its recent gains alongside safe-haven demand.

Bank of America struck a more cautious tone on gold after the metal suffered its weakest quarter in 13 years during the three months through June.

In a July 16 note, the bank pointed to heavy bullish positioning, similarities with previous market tops and the appearance of a death cross as signs that the downturn could become deeper and last longer.

A death cross forms when a shorter-term price average, usually the 50-day moving average, drops beneath a longer-term measure, typically the 200-day moving average. Traders often view the pattern as a warning that downward momentum is strengthening.

UBS is also unconvinced that silver has reached a reliable turning point and has advised investors against rushing to increase their exposure.

The Swiss bank lowered the price range where it would consider silver attractive from about $55 an ounce to between $48 and $50.

UBS strategist Dominic Schnider wrote on July 20 that rising Middle East risks, the cost of holding a metal that pays no income and the firm dollar could keep pressure on silver in the near term.

Dominic said inconsistent investment demand has left the market without a clear price floor, giving traders little reason to build larger long positions.

U.S. stock futures moved lower early Thursday as traders worked through a new batch of earnings, renewed concerns about artificial intelligence spending and another jump in crude prices. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each declined 0.2%.

Alphabet shares dropped 3% in after-hours trading after the Google parent said its 2026 capital spending could reach $205 billion. The company tied the higher forecast to strong demand for AI products, but investors have become increasingly uneasy about how much major technology companies are pouring into the sector.

The pullback followed a quiet negative session on Wall Street. The Dow slipped 6.06 points, or 0.01%, the S&P 500 lost 0.14%, and the Nasdaq Composite finished 0.57% lower.

Asian markets moved in the opposite direction. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.46%, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 4.40%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.18%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 added 0.23%.

Oil climbed after a tanker was hit by an unidentified projectile off the coast of Saudi Arabia and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened strikes on Iranian infrastructure. September Brent crude rose 2% to $95.99 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained about 1.7% to $88.27.

Bitcoin surged back above $66,000 after dipping from $67,000 just yesterday, as attention moved to the upcoming U.S. Senate vote on the Clarity Act, which could set clearer rules for digital assets.

The latest draft says Trump accepted an ethics provision that had held up bipartisan talks, clearing one of the main political obstacles before the Senate leaves for its August recess.