US close: Tech stocks lift markets higher, but Apple sinks

31st Jul 2026 23:54

(Sharecast News) - Strong gains from Amazon were enough to offset a sell-off in Apple shares on Friday, with US stock markets finishing firmly higher after a volatile week.

It was the second straight day of gains for Wall Street's three main indices, after stocks reached multi-month lows on Wednesday on the back of rate hike speculation following the Federal Reserve meeting.

The Dow gained 0.5%, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, while the Nasdaq jumped 1.0%.

"After a week in which AI capex concerns battered semiconductors and platform stocks, Amazon's result gave the market a reason to believe the demand side of the investment cycle is still intact," said Patrick Munnelly, partner of market strategy at Tickmill Group.

Amazon's stock jumped 15% on Friday after the ecommerce giant impressed with second-quarter earnings and revenues ahead of expectations, driven by impressive growth in its massive cloud business on the back of strong demand in the AI sector. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.97 topped the $1.82 consensus forecast.

Others big tech stocks were also making solid gains, including Alphabet which continues to recover after concerns about heavy AI spend overshadowed forecast-beating results last week. Heavyweights Nvidia and Meta also rose strongly.

Heading the other way, however, was Apple, dropping 7% after the iPhone maker beat forecasts with its third-quarter results but disappointed investors with guidance for the current quarter. Citing "supply constraints", as the tech giant contends with chip and memory shortages, revenues for the fourth quarter are now expected to grow by just 9-11% year-on-year, below the current consensus forecast of 12%.

In other equity news, Colgate‑Palmolive posted 4.9% sales growth, 8% base business earnings per share growth, and reiterated its full‑year guidance, while Chevron posted record second-quarter net income of $12.1bn, or $6.11 per diluted share, driven by surging global oil prices, and ExxonMobil reported Q2 2026 adjusted earnings of $14.7bn, or $3.52 per share, falling slightly short of Wall Street estimates slightly by about $0.02 to $0.08 per share.

Elsewhere, Iran's army claimed that it had launched strikes on strategic US assets and military bases in both Kuwait and Bahrain, following Washington's latest round of attacks against the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, Donald Trump said the US would resume heavy strikes against Iran and hit the country "very hard".

On the macro front, worker compensation rose slightly faster than expected in the second quarter, but continued to trail inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The employment cost index increased 0.9% between April and June, just ahead of the 0.8% rise economists had pencilled in. On an annual basis, the index was up 3.4%, a touch below the 3.5% gain recorded in the consumer price index.

On another note, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was revised up to 55.2 for July, from an initial reading of 54.0, marking its strongest level since February before the US-Iran conflict pushed fuel prices higher. Sentiment improved across all demographic groups, and the five‑year outlook for business conditions hit a 12‑month high, though it remained well below long‑run norms. Despite the upgrade, overall sentiment was still 11% lower year-on-year, with households citing persistent concerns over elevated prices and the lingering impact of years of high inflation. Year‑ahead inflation expectations eased to 4.2% from 4.6% in June, while long‑run expectations were unchanged at 3.3%.

Finally, the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago business barometer rose to 57.6 in July, up from 56.7 in June and ahead of expectations for a reading of 56.

Dow Jones - Risers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $464.72 3.67%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $196.83 2.35%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $90.20 2.31%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $115.99 1.88%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $184.02 1.83%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.81 1.52%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $223.65 0.86%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $270.64 0.82%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $814.81 0.70%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $30.29 0.66%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $308.91 -7.05%

Boeing Co. (BA) $216.14 -2.15%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $414.40 -1.68%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $41.71 -1.37%

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $87.59 -1.02%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $1,018.38 -0.63%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $374.36 -0.43%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $331.96 -0.42%

American Express Co. (AXP) $336.25 -0.38%

Visa Inc. (V) $366.13 -0.04%

S&P 500 - Risers

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $271.58 15.94%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $762.63 8.31%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $356.65 7.45%

Eaton Corporation plc (ETN) $415.20 7.32%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $356.13 7.11%

Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $25.03 6.51%

Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $180.35 5.46%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $205.10 5.24%

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $556.71 5.04%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $544.84 4.70%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Western Union Co. (WU) $6.36 -17.30%

FMC Corp. (FMC) $10.71 -9.47%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $308.91 -7.05%

Edison International (EIX) $73.37 -6.81%

Stryker Corp. (SYK) $325.70 -6.42%

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW) $111.75 -5.54%

International Paper Co. (IP) $40.83 -5.38%

CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $147.73 -4.93%

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $194.85 -4.70%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $271.58 15.94%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $762.63 8.31%

Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $356.65 7.45%

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $111.11 7.36%

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $356.13 7.11%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $205.10 5.24%

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $556.71 5.04%

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $544.84 4.70%

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $200.75 4.32%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $388.76 3.83%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $308.91 -7.05%

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $194.85 -4.70%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $119.52 -4.21%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $169.16 -3.95%

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $29.62 -3.83%

Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $25.85 -3.58%

T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $172.71 -3.41%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $13.37 -3.40%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $293.02 -3.14%