Microsoft and chipmakers boosted U.S. stocks: The Nasdaq 100 jumped nearly 3%
Yesterday, the technology index, which tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies on the Nasdaq, closed in correction territory
Photo: X / NYSE
Major U.S. stock indices opened higher on July 30: U.S. stocks were buoyed by a strong report from Microsoft, as well as semiconductor stocks rebounding after a multi-day sell-off, CNBC noted.
The broad U.S. stock index, the S&P 500, rose 0.8% in the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones blue-chip index gained 0.5%, while the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite led the gains, jumping more than 2% on Thursday. The Nasdaq 100 index, which tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies on the Nasdaq, also rose by nearly 3%—it had closed in correction territory the previous trading day.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 7% right away, slightly recouping the 20% losses it had suffered over the past month. Shares of Microsoft, which yesterday reported its best quarterly growth in its cloud business since 2022, are up 15%. Meanwhile, shares of Meta—another Big Tech company from the “Magnificent Seven” that reported its quarterly results yesterday—are falling by nearly 10%. Investors were disappointed by the company’s revenue forecast, as well as Meta’s increase in capital expenditures on AI, which put further pressure on free cash flow.
“Ultimately, this is a story of two AI investment strategies. One company is increasing its profits while simultaneously spending significant amounts of money, whereas the other is allowing these costs to reduce its net income,” commented Stephen Evans, Chief Investment Officer at Pave Finance (as quoted by CNBC).
The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds jumped 6 basis points and is hovering near its 2007 highs, — at 5.2% — as market participants assess the Fed’s decision, for the fifth consecutive time, to leave rates unchanged, despite inflation falling short of the central bank’s 2% target. Also, on July 30, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released new data on the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for June—the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices. Last month, it rose by 3.3%, slowing slightly compared to May’s pace. Meanwhile, according to the agency’s preliminary estimates, U.S. economic growth in the second quarter came in at 1.5% on an annualized basis, which was significantly lower than forecasts.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
