US stocks edged higher on Friday afternoon, with all three major indices on track to post gains for the week. Amazon shares surged following a positive earnings report, while Apple experienced a significant decline of nearly 10%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 160.49 points, or 0.31%, to 52,368.55 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 53.01 points, or 0.21%, to 25,175.19 points. The S&P 500 index added 13.38 points, or 0.18%, to 7,451.01 points.
Amazon shares skyrocketed 14.6% after the company reported second-quarter revenue that exceeded expectations. Strong performance from its cloud computing division supported the results, boosting investor confidence in spending on artificial intelligence. In contrast, Apple fell more than 9% on Friday. The company's third-quarter fiscal revenue surpassed estimates, driven by a 22% increase in iPhone sales, but a shortfall in services revenue weighed on the stock price.
Meta, which plunged nearly 8% on Thursday, traded up less than 1% in early Friday trading. The prior day's rally was fueled by a strong rebound led by Microsoft. The software giant's shares jumped 16% after reporting Azure cloud growth that exceeded forecasts. This performance triggered a broad rally in AI-related chip stocks, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rising over 8%.
The rebound followed a brutal sell-off on Wednesday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 1,100 points, marking its largest single-day decline since April 2025. The sell-off accelerated in late trading after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, sparking concerns that policymakers are falling behind in the fight against inflation. These worries spread to the Treasury market, with the 30-year bond yield rising 6 basis points to above 5.2% on Wednesday, hovering near its highest level since 2007.
Richard Bernstein, head of global macro and customized investment at Janus Henderson Investors, stated, "Investors are recalibrating their expectations for Fed rate cuts, reducing the excess liquidity that previously fueled speculative and momentum-driven markets. Market leadership is broadening beyond the 'Magnificent Seven,' as investors increasingly favor stocks with improving fundamentals over hype-driven momentum plays."
Despite the week's volatility, the major indices are still poised to close higher. As of Friday's open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 0.5% for the week, the S&P 500 gained about 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose about 0.6%. In Asian markets, the South Korea KOSPI index surged over 15% on Friday (though it is down 22.19% for the month), with chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics posting strong gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped over 3%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.27%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.11%, while the CSI 300 index gained 1.24%. European markets also moved higher on Friday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index up 0.8% in early trading, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX both rising about 0.9%. The UK's FTSE 100 and Italy's FTSE MIB indices also advanced.
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