This Weekly Financial Markets Update reviews the top market headlines: Inflation Rate Eases in July, Corporate Earnings Growth Surges in Q2, Retail Sales Disappoint in July
  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% in July from a year ago
  • Aggregate Q2 2026 earnings growth for S&P 500 companies sits at 50%
  • Retail sales fell 0.6% in July

Top Three Market Headlines

Inflation Rate Eases in July: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% in July from a year ago, down slightly from June's 3.5% annual pace. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.1% in July after a surprise 0.4% drop in June. Both the annual and monthly readings were in line with economists' expectations. While up 25% over the last year, gasoline prices fell 2.9% in July, contributing to the subdued CPI reading for the month. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.2% on the month in July and 2.5% from a year ago, modestly lower than June's rate of 2.6%.

Corporate Earnings Growth Surges in Q2: With approximately 90% of S&P 500 companies having reported their Q2 2026 earnings, the aggregate year-over-year earnings growth rate for the index is a robust 50%, according to FactSet. This is an acceleration from 28% in Q1 of 2026 and, if sustained as the remaining companies issue their reports, would be the fastest growth since Q2 of 2021. The growth rate has been boosted by strong earnings reports from Alphabet and Amazon, both of which are among the top 10 largest-weighted constituents in the index; however, even excluding these two companies the index growth rate would still be 32%. Overall, eight of eleven economic sectors have reported double-digit earnings growth for Q2, led by energy at nearly 150%.

Retail Sales Disappoint in July: Sales at U.S. retail and food establishments fell 0.6% in July, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, falling shy of economists' expectation for growth of 0.1%. This marked the first sales decline in six months, suggesting that consumers lost steam last month after a strong first half of the year for spending. One area where consumers pulled back was automobiles, which declined 2.0%, while sales at gas stations fell 0.9% as gas prices declined. Excluding these two categories, sales elsewhere declined 0.2%, with the biggest drop being online shopping, which fell 2.2% in July after surging in late June during the latest Amazon Prime Day event.

As of August 14, 2026 Week Quarter-To-Date Year-To-Date One-Year
MSCI All Country World 0.72% 3.69% 15.36% 23.49%
S&P 500 0.39% 3.93% 14.54% 21.81%
Russell 2000 1.15% 1.55% 24.47% 35.11%
MSCI EAFE 0.58% 4.86% 14.76% 22.95%
MSCI Emerging Markets 2.66% -0.92% 22.70% 36.15%
FTSE NAREIT Equity 0.11% 1.66% 19.79% 24.33%
Bloomberg Commodity 2.85% 10.41% 26.26% 40.55%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate -0.14% -0.85% -0.24% 2.39%

US Bureau of Labor Statistics 8/12/2026, US Energy Information, FactSet 8/7/2026, US Census Bureau 8/14/2026, Retail Dive 6/29/2026. Index returns from Morningstar Direct. Returns for periods greater than one year are annualized. Investment advisory services are offered by Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC ("GFA"), an SEC registered investment advisor that provides retirement, investment advisory, discretionary and independent fiduciary services. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply any specific level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the SEC. GFA is a limited liability company with Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. as its single member. GFA may pay referral fees or other remuneration to employees of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. or its affiliates or to independent contractors; such payments do not change our fee. Neither Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., GFA, their affiliates nor representatives provide accounting, legal or tax advice. GFA does not express an investment opinion regarding any specific commodity, sector or individual security. Unless otherwise expressly noted, the contents of this communication do not constitute securities or investment advice, nor should this communication be construed as an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment. The information provided cannot take into account all the various factors that may affect your particular situation, therefore you should consult your GFA consultant before acting upon any information or recommendation contained herein to discuss the ability of the information/recommendation for your specific situation.