Daily Recap: July 10, 2026

TLDR

Market stress indicators still look healthy, but the tape was quieter than Thursday.

VIX fell to 15.03, oil moved lower, and high-yield credit spreads remain tight. That is still a constructive backdrop. The market is not acting like it sees systemic stress.

Equities

Equities were positive, but the move was not especially exciting.

Equities finished modestly higher. SPY was up 0.39%, QQQM was up 0.31%, and RSP was up 0.37%. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Nasdaq rose 0.3%, and the Dow rose 0.3%, while small caps lagged, with the Russell 2000 down 0.5%.

Small caps were weaker, with the Russell 2000 down 0.5%. That is the one equity-market negative worth flagging. If the market is truly broadening, small caps should participate. Today they did not.

Semis were mixed. SMH was up 0.60%, while SOXX was slightly down. That tells me the AI bid is still alive, but the move was not uniform across the whole semiconductor complex.

The big picture remains the same: AI infrastructure is still the dominant equity theme, but the trade has become more selective. After the recent multiple expansion, that is healthy. We want the best companies to keep working, but we do not want everything with an AI label trading like fundamentals no longer matter.