S&P and Dow Close at Records, Palantir Soars 30%

Wall Street closed Tuesday at fresh record highs, delivering exactly the follow-through the earnings-heavy session set up in this morning's morning analysis. The S&P 500 climbed 1.79 percent to a record 7,736.52, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 900 points past 54,000, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.59 percent. The rally was powered by a blowout from Palantir and a broad surge across semiconductors, while lower oil kept the inflation worry at bay. The twist came after the bell: both marquee reports we previewed this morning, AMD and SpaceX, beat expectations yet slid in extended trading. This is the closing scorecard, not an instruction to act on any asset.

Records Across the Board

The session was a clean risk-on move with broad participation. The S&P 500 added 136 points to close at a record 7,736.52, the Dow gained about 907 points, or 1.71 percent, to 54,085.88, its own fresh all-time high, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.59 percent to 26,584.99 as megacap technology and chips did the heavy lifting. The tape built on Monday's record close rather than fading it, helped by strong corporate results and a calmer oil market after the US-Iran de-escalation drained the war premium. Breadth was firm, with the AI complex leading and cyclicals joining in as Caterpillar rallied after quarterly sales and revenue topped 20 billion dollars for the first time.

Palantir and the Chip Surge

The story of the day was a one-two punch from software and semiconductors. Palantir soared roughly 30 percent after management described what it called an otherworldly quarter, a move that rippled straight through the AI trade and set the tone for the whole session. Alongside it, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped about 6 percent, with Intel, Micron and Nvidia all posting strong gains as investors piled back into the chip complex ahead of AMD's after-hours report. The combination reinforced the market's central theme: as long as the AI infrastructure story keeps delivering, the indexes have the fuel to keep printing records. It also raised the stakes for the after-hours earnings, since expectations were now running hot.

After-Hours: AMD and SpaceX Beat but Slide

Both headline reports cleared the bar and still sold off, a classic case of results running into stretched expectations. AMD topped estimates with revenue of about 11.54 billion dollars and adjusted earnings of 1.66 dollars a share, with the data-center segment climbing to 6.7 billion dollars, more than 58 percent of the total. Guidance was healthy too, with third-quarter revenue seen at 12.7 to 13.3 billion dollars, above consensus. Yet the stock fell more than 8 percent after hours, as a solid beat was not the blowout a 6 percent chip rally had primed investors to expect. SpaceX, in its first-ever report as a public company, grew revenue 92 percent to 7.81 billion dollars and narrowed its loss to 9 cents a share, well ahead of the 26-cent loss feared, with Starlink now at 12 million subscribers and cash of 93.5 billion dollars. But the newly listed shares also slid as capital expenditure jumped more than sixfold to 18.37 billion dollars, including 15.83 billion dollars on AI, well above estimates.

Crypto and Commodities Check

Away from equities the tone was quietly firm. Bitcoin traded near 64,357 dollars, up about half a percent and holding the mid-64,000s after firming through the US session, while Ether recovered toward 1,877 dollars, up about 0.4 percent and clawing back the ground it lost in the morning. Live levels and ETF-flow data sit on the ThriveInMarkets homepage. In commodities, West Texas Intermediate recovered about 2 percent to near 81.80 dollars, retracing part of Monday's roughly 6 percent plunge as uncertainty lingered over efforts to resolve the US-Iran standoff and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Gold edged up to near 4,079 dollars, firmer than the morning print around 4,064 but still consolidating within its historically elevated range as the safe-haven bid stayed measured.

Overnight and Tomorrow Watch

Three things frame the hours ahead, none a prediction or an instruction to trade. First, the after-hours reaction to AMD and SpaceX, and whether that caution spills into the chip complex and the broader AI trade at Wednesday's open after such a strong close. Second, whether the record run has legs with the indexes now at fresh highs and Palantir's move already banked, a test of how much good news is priced in. Third, the run-in to Friday's July jobs report, the week's biggest macro catalyst for the rate outlook, with a busy earnings calendar continuing in between. Follow the play-by-play on Market Insights and track scheduled releases on our economic calendar.

ThriveInMarkets publishes market commentary for general information only and does not provide personal investment advice. Index figures are the Tuesday, August 4 record cash-session closes; crypto, gold and oil figures are live prints as of 20:45 UTC Tuesday, August 4. Earnings figures are as reported and subject to revision. Levels and scenarios cited are technical reference points, not instructions to buy or sell any asset.