U.S. equity futures are extending Thursday’s technology-led rebound as Amazon’s cloud results reinforce confidence in AI spending. At the latest Reuters reading, S&P 500 futures were up 0.35%, Dow futures were up 0.46% and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.83%. Small-cap futures were also positive after the Russell 2000 gained 1.4% Thursday, although the opening setup remains dominated by Amazon and semiconductor strength.
U.S. equities rallied Thursday, with the S&P 500 up 1.66%, the Dow up 1.19%, the Nasdaq up 2.78% and the Russell 2000 up 1.4%. Microsoft’s 15%-plus surge drove the advance and helped the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jump 8.2%. Advancers outnumbered decliners across the full U.S. market by approximately 2.2:1, while volume increased to 18.0 billion shares, above the previous 20-session average of 17.2 billion.
Using the supplied sector tape, Information Technology surged 5.24% and was the clear market leader. Consumer Discretionary gained 1.57%, followed by Industrials, Financials, Energy and Materials. The sharpest declines came from Communication Services -2.52%, Consumer Staples -2.24%, Health Care -1.65% and Real Estate -1.23%. NYSE breadth was positive at 1.32:1, while Nasdaq breadth was stronger at 1.86:1, confirming that the technology rally extended beyond Microsoft.
Treasury yields were comparatively stable. The 2-year yield was unchanged at 4.24%, the 10-year was unchanged at 4.67% and the 30-year rose 1 basis point to 5.21%. The long end remains close to its highest level in 19 years, although the 30-year yield eased modestly overnight as markets digested the Fed’s divided decision and softer inflation data.
The DXY fell 0.93 to 99.95, while the euro strengthened to $1.1532 and sterling rose to $1.3472. The dollar dropped 2.46% against the yen to ¥159.40, reflecting reported Japanese intervention, but recovered toward ¥160.38 after the Bank of Japan left rates unchanged.
September WTI crude fell 1.01% to $83.61, easing some of the prior session’s energy-inflation pressure. December gold gained 1.87% to $4,173.80, benefiting from the weaker dollar and persistent geopolitical uncertainty.
Second-quarter GDP grew at a 1.5% annualized pace, below the 2.1% consensus, as imports and inventory drawdowns offset strong underlying demand. Consumer spending accelerated at a 3.2% rate and equipment investment increased 15.2%, supported by the AI buildout. June headline PCE inflation slowed to 3.7% year over year, while core PCE eased to 3.3%. Personal spending rose 0.3%, but the saving rate fell to 2.7%, its lowest level in four years.
Friday’s main release is the second-quarter Employment Cost Index at 8:30 a.m. ET, an important measure of wage and benefit inflation. The Chicago PMI follows at 9:45 a.m., with final July consumer sentiment and inflation expectations due at 10:00 a.m.
Sector Highlights
Using the supplied sector tape, Information Technology surged 5.24% and was the clear market leader. Consumer Discretionary gained 1.57%, followed by Industrials, Financials, Energy and Materials. The sharpest declines came from Communication Services -2.52%, Consumer Staples -2.24%, Health Care -1.65% and Real Estate -1.23%. NYSE breadth was positive at 1.32:1, while Nasdaq breadth was stronger at 1.86:1, confirming that the technology rally extended beyond Microsoft.
Consumer Discretionary
- Amazon (AMZN +12% premarket) reported 37% AWS revenue growth to $42.2 billion, the cloud unit’s strongest increase in more than four years. The company raised planned capital spending by 10% to $220 billion, but investors focused on evidence that AI investment is already accelerating cloud demand.
Information Technology
- Apple (AAPL -5.5% after hours) beat quarterly revenue and earnings expectations, with iPhone sales up 21.7%, but forecast September-quarter revenue growth of 9%–11%, below Wall Street’s 12% target. Management cited advanced-chip and memory supply constraints rather than weak demand.
- Microsoft (MSFT +15.5%) recorded its strongest session since 2008 after forecasting better-than-expected sales and cloud growth. The gain added approximately $450 billion to its market value, the largest one-day increase for a U.S. company.
- Micron (MU +18%), SanDisk (SNDK +26%) and AMD (AMD +13%) led Thursday’s semiconductor rebound. Premarket strength continued in Marvell, Intel, AMD and Nvidia following Amazon’s AWS results.
Communication Services
- Meta Platforms (META) fell Thursday after reporting a 91% decline in quarterly free cash flow, reinforcing concerns about the near-term financial cost of its AI infrastructure program.
- Roblox (RBLX -17% premarket) declined after forecasting slower bookings and revenue growth while increasing spending on AI and platform safety.
Financials
- Coinbase (COIN -4.6% premarket) fell after reporting a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and weaker revenue.
Energy
- Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) report before the opening bell. Investors will focus on production growth, refining margins and whether higher geopolitical risk and crude prices can sustain the recent rebound in sector earnings.
