Microsoft Soars 15% as Nasdaq Rebounds Post-Fed

Twenty-four hours after the worst session of the quarter, Wall Street staged an emphatic rebound. As previewed in this morning's morning analysis, Microsoft's blowout quarter was the lifeline the market needed, and by the close it had become something bigger: a record. The stock's roughly 15 percent surge dragged the Nasdaq up nearly 3 percent, a cooler June inflation print eased the rate anxiety that sank stocks on Wednesday, and all three major indexes clawed back the bulk of the Fed-driven losses. Here is how the US session actually finished, the after-hours earnings that followed, and what to watch overnight. These are observations, not instructions to act on any asset.

The Close: A Sharp, Broad Rebound

The buyers came back with conviction. The S&P 500 rose 1.66 percent to 7,437.63, more than reversing Wednesday's 1.52 percent drop and setting a fresh closing high for the index. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.78 percent to 25,122.18, a 679-point gain that lifted it back out of the correction it had entered a day earlier, powered by a rally across the technology and semiconductor complex. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.19 percent, or 613.92 points, to 52,208.06, recovering more than half of its 1,153-point plunge. Breadth was firmly positive and the advance built through the afternoon rather than fading, a mirror image of Wednesday's accelerating selloff, as easing Treasury yields removed the pressure that had crushed rate-sensitive growth names.

Story of the Day: Microsoft's Record

The session belonged to one name. Following Wednesday's after-hours beat, in which Azure cloud revenue topped $100 billion annually for the first time and grew 43 percent, Microsoft surged about 15.5 percent to roughly $451, its biggest single-day gain since 2008 and, by market value, the largest one-day increase for any company in history. The move single-handedly accounted for a large share of the Nasdaq's advance and reframed the AI capital-spending story that had punished the sector all week: investors chose to read record cloud demand as validation of the spending rather than a drag on it. Chip stocks rode the same wave higher. The one notable blemish was Meta, down about 8 percent, as its own results renewed questions about how quickly its heavy AI investment will pay off, a reminder that the market is still discriminating sharply between the winners and the laggards of the capex race.

A Cooler PCE Eases the Rate Fear

The macro backdrop turned friendlier just as it needed to. The June PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge and the number the dissenting officials feared, showed prices advancing at a slower pace than in May, a cooler read that directly undercut Wednesday's hawkish message. At the same time the advance second-quarter GDP figure came in below expectations, a softer growth signal that, in this context, reinforced the case for patience rather than hikes. The combination let Treasury yields retreat from the levels that had triggered the selloff, and that decline in yields was the quiet engine beneath the equity rebound. After a day dominated by fear that the central bank was falling behind, the data offered a reprieve that made the previous session's panic look overdone.

After-Hours: Amazon Beats on AWS

The closing bell handed the baton to the last of the Magnificent Seven. Amazon delivered a clear beat: net sales rose 20 percent to $200.6 billion against about $196.9 billion expected, and the swing factor, Amazon Web Services, grew 36.7 percent to $42.23 billion, its fastest pace in 18 quarters and comfortably above the $40.5 billion consensus, with AWS operating income of $16.62 billion also topping estimates. The stock ticked up modestly in early extended trading. The one hesitation was forward guidance: Amazon guided current-quarter revenue to $197 billion to $202 billion, a touch below the roughly $204 billion analysts sought, echoing the season's pattern of the market fixating on the outlook rather than the beat. Apple also reported after the bell, leaning on iPhone and services strength, and traded slightly higher initially. Both reactions were still settling as of this writing.

Crypto, Commodities and the Overnight Watch

Risk appetite spread beyond equities. Bitcoin trades near $64,772, up about 1.3 percent and firm in the mid $64,000s, extending the resilience it showed through the Fed rout, while Ether sits near $1,921, up about 0.4 percent. Live levels and ETF-flow data sit on the ThriveInMarkets homepage. In commodities, gold holds near $4,115, up about 0.2 percent and edging above the $4,100 handle on a steady bid, while WTI crude eases to about $84.18, down roughly 0.3 percent as it consolidates Wednesday's Iran-driven surge. Three things frame the overnight and Friday, none a prediction or an instruction to trade. First, the full digestion of Amazon and Apple guidance will set the tone for Friday's open and test whether the capex-scrutiny reflex returns. Second, the path of Treasury yields after the cooler PCE will show whether the rate reprieve holds. Third, Friday brings month-end flows plus the Employment Cost Index and final consumer-sentiment data. Follow the play-by-play on Market Insights and the schedule on the economic calendar.

ThriveInMarkets publishes market commentary for general information only and does not provide personal investment advice. Equity figures are Thursday, July 30 cash-session closes; crypto, gold and oil figures are live prints as of 20:45 UTC. After-hours earnings reactions were still developing at publication. Dates and times are scheduled events subject to change. Levels and scenarios cited are technical reference points, not instructions to buy or sell any asset.