Microsoft Hits $4 Trillion Valuation as AI Investments Boost Tech Giants' Earnings

Wall Street jumps as Microsoft enters $4 trillion club after results

July 31 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed to new record highs on Thursday, as Microsoft's blockbuster earnings propelled the tech giant past the $4 trillion milestone and fueled investor confidence in Big Tech's hefty investments in artificial intelligence. Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab became the second publicly traded company after Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab to surpass $4 trillion in market valuation, following a blockbuster earnings report. Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab also climbed 12.1% to an all-time high in early trading, after the social media giant forecast third-quarter revenue well above estimates, thanks to AI boosting its core advertising business. Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab gained more than 1%. The S&P technology index (.SPLRCT), opens new tab and the communication services index (.SPLRCL), opens new tab both hit record highs, up 1.2% and over 3%, respectively. At 09:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 88.73 points, or 0.20%, to 44,550.01, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained 45.18 points, or 0.71%, to 6,408.08 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab gained 245.09 points, or 1.16%, to 21,374.76. A Commerce Department report showed U.S. inflation increased in June as tariffs on imports started raising the cost of some goods, supporting economists' expectations that price pressures would pick up in the second half of the year. "Thursday's PCE was stronger than expected and throws cold water on the idea of a fall rate-cut, as it's clear that lower interest rates are not justified at this time," said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer, Bellwether Wealth. "Inflation remains sticky and justifies the Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged at Wednesday's meeting." Separately, weekly jobless claims increased marginally last week, suggesting the labor market remained stable. Attention now turns to Friday's non-farm payrolls report and a looming tariff deadline, with President Donald Trump refusing to extend trade talks for lagging partners. Easing global trade war fears, signs of U.S. economic resilience, and renewed AI optimism have set Wall Street on course for monthly gains. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and blue-chip Dow (.DJI), opens new tab are set for a third straight monthly gain - their longest winning streak in nearly a year - while the Nasdaq was on track for its best monthly run since March 2024. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell diluted investor expectations for an interest rate cut in September after the central bank kept rates unchanged. Traders now see a 58.8% chance the Fed will stay pat in September as well, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Powell said it was too early to predict a September rate cut, and that current policy was not restricting the economy. The statement came after stronger-than-expected GDP data for the second quarter. The "hold" verdict prompted another jibe on Powell by Trump, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected an announcement on Powell's successor by year-end. EU officials said European liquor could face 15% tariffs from August 1 until a different agreement is reached, with talks set to continue in the fall. Trump's deal with South Korea on Wednesday cut the country's import tariff to 15% from the previously threatened 25%. Among other stocks, Applied Digital (APLD.O), opens new tab soared 32.7% after the data center operator surpassed estimates for quarterly revenue. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Wall St set to open higher as Meta, Microsoft results fan AI frenzy

July 31 (Reuters) - Wall Street futures pointed to a strong start on Thursday, as blockbuster earnings from Meta and Microsoft signaled Big Tech's hefty artificial intelligence bets were paying off. Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab soared 11.4% in premarket trading after the social media giant forecast third-quarter revenue well above estimates, thanks to AI boosting its core advertising business. Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab issued a record capital spending outlook of $30 billion for the current quarter and reported higher-than-expected sales in its Azure cloud computing business. The stock surged 8.8% before the bell. Other tech heavyweights Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab also climbed 3.1% and 2.3%, respectively, while Microsoft was on track to hit a $4 trillion market capitalization for the first time. At 08:40 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 61.25 points, or 0.96%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 326.75 points, or 1.39%, and Dow E-minis were up 117 points, or 0.26%. A Commerce Department report showed the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index rose 0.3% in June, in line with estimates by economists polled by Reuters. Annually, it stood at 2.6% against estimates of 2.5%. "We haven't seen tariffs show up in the data yet. You're seeing companies able to mitigate tariffs, whether it's by altering their supply chain, raising prices, or cutting expenses," said Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at Homrich Berg. "In conjunction with good demand in the market from the consumers, it's becoming a nice offset." Separately, the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits was at 218,000 for the week of July 26, compared with estimates of 224,000, according to economists polled by Reuters. Attention now turns to Friday's non-farm payrolls report and a looming tariff deadline, with President Donald Trump refusing to extend trade talks for lagging partners. Easing global trade war fears, signs of U.S. economic resilience, and renewed AI optimism are behind Wall Street's monthly climb. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and blue-chip Dow (.DJI), opens new tab are set for a third straight monthly gain - their longest winning streak in nearly a year - while the Nasdaq was on track for its best month in over a year. On Wednesday, however, the two indexes ended lower as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell diluted investor expectations for an interest rate cut in September after the central bank kept rates unchanged. Traders now see a 58.8% chance the Fed will stay pat in September as well, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Powell said it was too early to predict a September rate cut, and that current policy was not restricting the economy. The statement came after stronger-than-expected GDP data for the second quarter. The "hold" verdict prompted another attack on Powell by Trump, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected an announcement on Powell's successor by year-end. EU officials said European liquor could face 15% tariffs from August 1 until a different agreement is reached, with talks set to continue in the fall. Trump's deal with South Korea on Wednesday cut the country's import tariff to 15% from the previously threatened 25%. Among other stocks, Applied Digital (APLD.O), opens new tab soared 23.4% after the data center operator surpassed estimates for quarterly revenue. Mastercard (MA.N), opens new tab added 1% after reporting a higher second-quarter profit. Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs at open as Meta, Microsoft results fan AI frenzy

July 31 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq opened at record highs on Thursday, as blockbuster earnings from Meta and Microsoft signaled Big Tech's hefty artificial intelligence bets were paying off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 204.5 points, or 0.46%, at the open to 44,665.82. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab rose 64.1 points, or 1.01%, at the open to 6,427.02, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab rose 327.8 points, or 1.55%, to 21,457.48 at the opening bell. Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

SNAPSHOT S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs at open as Meta, Microsoft results fan AI frenzy

July 31 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq opened at record highs on Thursday, as blockbuster earnings from Meta and Microsoft signaled Big Tech's hefty artificial intelligence bets were paying off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 204.5 points, or 0.46%, at the open to 44,665.82. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab rose 64.1 points, or 1.01%, at the open to 6,427.02, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab rose 327.8 points, or 1.55%, to 21,457.48 at the opening bell. Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Wall St cools after Microsoft's $4 trillion moment; tech results awaited

July 31 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq receded from record highs notched earlier on Thursday, as Wall Street shifted its focus beyond Microsoft's $4 trillion milestone and braced for Apple and Amazon's earnings later in the day. Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab jumped 5% after a blowout earnings report and briefly crossed $4 trillion in market cap, becoming only the second publicly traded company to ever touch the milestone after Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab. Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab rose 12.1% to a record high as AI-driven growth in its core ad business powered a bullish revenue forecast, while Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab also climbed more than 1%. "The earnings that we got from them fell very much in line with what we were expecting," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer of Siebert Financial. "We're bullish on the entire AI infrastructure" and it's very critical that these companies come out with "superior" earnings announcements, he added. The tech rally sent the S&P technology (.SPLRCT), opens new tab and communication services (.SPLRCL), opens new tab indexes to new record peaks. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab jumped as much as 1.2% in its strongest intraday rally in nearly a month, before paring gains to 0.8%, while the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab advanced 0.45%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab, meanwhile, slipped into negative territory and then became flat as UnitedHealth (UNH.N), opens new tab tumbled to a two-month low. Investors weighed a Commerce Department report showing inflation picked up in June, with new tariffs pushing prices higher and stoking expectations that price pressures could intensify in the coming months. "Inflation remains sticky and justifies the Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged," said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer, Bellwether Wealth. Attention now turns to Friday's non-farm payrolls report and a looming tariff deadline, with President Donald Trump refusing to extend trade talks for lagging partners. Separately, weekly jobless claims increased marginally last week, suggesting the labor market remained stable. Easing global trade war fears, signs of U.S. economic resilience, and renewed AI optimism have set Wall Street on course for monthly gains. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and blue-chip Dow (.DJI), opens new tab are set for a third straight monthly gain - their longest winning streak in nearly a year - while the Nasdaq was on track for its best monthly run since March 2024. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cooled hopes for a September rate cut after the central bank held rates steady. Traders now expect a 58.8% chance the Fed will stay pat in September as well, according to CME's FedWatch tool. The "hold" verdict prompted another jibe on Powell by Trump, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected an announcement on Powell's successor by year-end. EU officials said European liquor could face 15% tariffs from August 1 until a different agreement is reached, with talks set to continue in the fall. Trump's deal with South Korea on Wednesday cut the country's import tariff to 15% from the previously threatened 25%. Meanwhile, U.S. appeals court judges sharply questioned whether Trump's tariffs were justified by the president's emergency powers. Among other stocks, Applied Digital (APLD.O), opens new tab soared 32% after the data center operator surpassed estimates for quarterly revenue. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 25 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 61 new highs and 103 new lows. Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Big Tech rallies keep stocks near record highs

Stocks edged higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday and are hovering around record highs amid rallies for big technology stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and is just below the record high it set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:38 p.m. Eastern. The technology-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.5% and is on track for a record. The technology sector did the heavy lifting for the broader market following results from big companies showcasing advancements in artificial intelligence. Roughly 70% of stocks in the S&P 500 were losing ground, but big technology stocks with hefty values helped offset losses elsewhere. Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms surged 11.9% after it crushed Wall Street's sales and profit targets even as the company continues to pour billions into artificial intelligence.

Rallies for Microsoft and Meta send Wall Street higher

NEW YORK -- Big rallies for Microsoft and Facebook's parent company are helping lead stocks back toward more record highs. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent in early trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 82 points. The tech gains pushed the Nasdaq composite up 1.3 per cent. Meta Platforms surged 12 per cent after the parent company of Facebook and Instagram crushed Wall Street's sales and profit targets even as the company continues to pour billions of dollars into artificial intelligence. Microsoft jumped six per cent after it also posted better results than analysts were expecting. Apple and Amazon report their results after the closing bell.