Monthly Market Metrics and Trends
Analyzing Volatility, Market Performance, and Equity and Options Volumes
Published on:
August 6, 2026
Issue:
Market Theme: Is Good News Still Good Enough?
- The Q2 2026 earnings season is off to a robust start, with double-digit earnings growth for the S&P 500.
- Nonetheless, there has been little correlation between the magnitude of a company’s earnings “beat” and its one-day return performance.
- Roughly half of the companies that have exceeded consensus expectations for both revenue and earnings experienced share price declines during the trading day following their earnings announcement, suggesting that investors are placing greater weight on forward guidance than on reported quarterly results alone
Market Metrics
- S&P 500 (Price Index): July close 7,489.72, -0.1% M/M, +9.4% YTD, +18.1% Y/Y
- S&P 500 Sector Total Return Performance:
- Best = Energy +12.6% M/M / Energy +34.7% YTD / Energy +41.2% Y/Y
- Worst = Information Technology -3.4% M/M / Consumer Discretionary 0% YTD / Utilities +6.4% Y/Y
- Volatility Index (VIX): Monthly average 17.2%; -0.8 pp M/M, +0.9 pp Y/Y
- Equity Average Daily Volume (ADV): Monthly average 17.4 billion shares; -25.4% M/M, -3.3% Y/Y
- Options ADV: Monthly average 67.3 million contracts; -8.0% M/M, +23.2% Y/Y
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