US stocks were trading in a mixed pattern during early Friday trading, with the Nasdaq's gains narrowing while the Dow and S&P 500 slipped into negative territory. A strong earnings report from Amazon.com fueled a sharp rally in its shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.46 points, or 0.10%, to 52,154.60. The Nasdaq Composite added 36.53 points, or 0.15%, to 25,158.70. The S&P 500 Index declined 5.13 points, or 0.07%, to 7,432.50.
Amazon.com shares skyrocketed 14.9% after the company reported second-quarter revenue that exceeded analyst expectations. The robust performance of its cloud computing division provided significant support, reinforcing investor confidence in spending on artificial intelligence technologies.
In contrast, Apple experienced a steep decline of over 9% on Friday. While the company's third fiscal quarter revenue topped estimates, thanks to a 22% increase in iPhone sales, a shortfall in services revenue weighed on the stock price, pulling it lower.
Shares of Meta, which had plunged nearly 8% on Thursday, managed a modest gain of less than 1% in early Friday trading. The previous day's surge was led by a strong rebound from Microsoft, which jumped 16% after the software giant reported Azure cloud growth that exceeded expectations. This performance triggered a broad rally in AI-related chip stocks, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rising more than 8%.
This rebound came after a brutal sell-off on Wednesday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled over 1,100 points, marking its largest single-day decline since April 2025. The selling pressure intensified late in the day after the Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady, sparking concerns that policymakers might be falling behind in their battle against inflation.
These worries spilled over into the bond market. The 30-year Treasury yield rose 6 basis points on Wednesday to above 5.2%, hovering near its highest levels since 2007.
Richard Bernstein, Head of Global Macro & Customized Investments at Janus Henderson Investors, commented, "Investors are recalibrating their expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, reducing the excess liquidity that had previously fueled speculative and momentum-driven markets. Market leadership is broadening out from the 'Magnificent Seven' as investors increasingly favor stocks with improving fundamentals over hype-driven momentum plays."
Despite the week's volatility, the major indexes were on track to finish in positive territory. As of Friday's open, the Dow was up roughly 0.5% for the week, the S&P 500 had gained about 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite was up approximately 0.6%.
In Asian markets, South Korea's KOSPI index surged more than 15% on Friday, though it remains down 22.19% for the month. Chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics saw significant 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 dipped 0.11%, while the CSI 300 Index in mainland China climbed 1.24%.
European markets also traded broadly higher on Friday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.8% in early trading, while France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX indices both gained about 0.9%. The UK's FTSE 100 and Italy's FTSE MIB indices also moved higher.
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