Wall St cools after Microsoft's $4trn moment
Microsoft 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.
Meta Platforms rose 12.1% to a record high as AI-driven growth in its core ad business powered a bullish revenue forecast, while Nvidia 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 and communication services indexes to new record peaks.
The Nasdaq Composite 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 advanced 0.45%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, slipped into negative territory and then became flat as UnitedHealth 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 US economic resilience, and renewed AI optimism have set Wall Street on course for monthly gains.
The S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow 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.
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