July trading wrapped up with a bang on Friday, as impressive earnings out of the tech sector helped lead the major indexes to impressive daily, weekly, and monthly wins. The Dow roared to life by the close, tacking on 315 points and turning in its biggest month-on-month rise since November 2020, as well as a notable weekly rise. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged impressive daily and weekly wins of their own. The pair also managed to snag their largest monthly jumps since November 2020 and April 2020, respectively.

The moves came as investors tried to brush off inflation and recession fears that have plagued Wall Street for the past six months. Despite the upbeat trading, some think the worst is yet to come, especially after the personal consumption index (CPI) for June climbed to its highest level since January 1982. Meanwhile, Wall Street's popular "fear gauge" -- the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) -- settled at its lowest level since April, stringing on its sixth-consecutive weekly loss. 

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 32,845.13) gained 315.5 points or nearly 1% for the day. Chevron (CVX) led the gainers, adding 8.9%, while Intel (INTC) paced the laggards, falling 8.7%. For the week, the Dow rose nearly 3%, and for the month, it added 6.7%. 

The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,130.29) jumped 57.9 points or 1.4% for the day. It rose 4.3% for the week, and 9.1% for the month. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC -12,390.69) tacked on 228.10 points or 1.9% for the session. In the past week, it added 4.7%, and in the past month, it tacked on 12.3%.

Lastly, the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX - 21.33) lost 1 point or 4.5% for the day. It shed 7.3% for the week, and 25.7% for the month. 

OIL, GOLD FALL ON THE MONTH

Tightening crude supplies sent oil prices higher, though recession and demand concerns capped some of these gains. In response, September-dated crude added $2.20, or 2.3%, to settle at $98.62 per barrel. For the week prices rose 4.1%, though they shed 6.8% for the month.

Gold prices got another boost today as many investors hold out hope that the Fed will soon become take a more dovish stance on interest rate hikes. The now most active December-dated gold contract added $12.60, or 0.7%, to close at $1,781.80 per ounce. For the week, the contract added roughly 3.2%, though it lost 1.4% for the month. 

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