Microsoft's robust financial results have boosted investor confidence, driving US stock index futures higher across the board on Tuesday, helping to ease concerns about the return on massive artificial intelligence investments while offsetting the negative impact of rising inflation expectations on long-term bond markets.
Trading data shows that as of early New York trading, S&P 500 futures rose 0.6%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.4%, and the Nasdaq 100 futures, which had recently entered a technical correction, climbed 1.3%. In individual stock moves, Microsoft surged 9.6% in premarket trading. The latest earnings report indicates that the company's cloud business growth rate hit a nearly four-year high, while capital expenditure plans remained unchanged.
This momentum is expected to help US chip stocks break a five-day losing streak. However, performance among major US tech companies is showing clear divergence. In contrast to Microsoft, Meta Platforms Inc saw its shares plunge 9.3% after its revenue guidance fell short of expectations. Amazon and Apple are set to report their latest earnings shortly, providing further insight into the overall health of the US tech sector.
Regarding capital spending by large tech firms, Rory McPherson, a representative of investment firm Magnus Financial Discretionary Management, noted that the market is cautious about ultra-large cloud service providers that cannot support massive expenditures with actual profits. He emphasized that Microsoft's ability to sustain cloud growth without exceeding spending expectations serves as a key bellwether for the market.
On the macroeconomic front, the financial environment remains complex due to multiple factors, including increased volatility in AI-related stocks, sharp fluctuations in international crude oil prices, and uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook. The market is closely watching upcoming US core inflation data. Due to falling energy prices, the overall Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for June is expected to show negative month-over-month growth, but the core PCE year-over-year increase is still projected to be significantly above the Fed's 2% long-term inflation target.
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