31. Jul 2026
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(AWP Alliance News) - Shares capped off a winning week higher in New York on Friday following earnings from the likes of Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, despite elevated energy prices and rising Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 276.97 points, 0.5% at 52,485.03. The S&P 500 rose 52.09 points, 0.7%, to 7,489.72. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 251.68 points, 1.0%, at 25,373.85.
For the week, the DJIA and S&P 500 each gained 1.0% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.6%.
For the month, the DJIA gained 0.3%, the S&P lost 0.1% and the Nasdaq dropped 3.2%.
"The number one question facing investors is whether the weakness in AI-exposed sectors of the market was a long-term inflection point or portfolio rebalancing. Earnings results have been very strong once again. One wildcard, though, is seasonality," wrote strategists at Bespoke Investment Group.
Key US data next week includes the June job openings and labour turnover survey and the July nonfarm payrolls report.
Apple shares sank 7.4% on Friday despite better than expected financial third quarter results as growth in China and Services fell short of forecasts.
Revenue jumped 16% on-year to USD109.42 billion in the June quarter, beating USD108.86 billion FactSet consensus. Services revenue missed USD31.22 billion consensus, however. Greater China increased to USD18.82 billion from USD15.37 billion, below USD19.58 billion consensus.
Diluted earnings per share was USD2.02, up 29%, and included a favorable impact of USSD0.11 from tariff refunds.
Outgoing CEO Tim Cook said it was the "strongest June quarter ever, with double-digit revenue growth across iPhone, Mac and Services, and in every geographic segment."
Amazon surged 15% on Friday after it reported stronger than expected growth in its AWS cloud business.
Amazon said second quarter diluted EPS jumped to USD5.75 from USD1.68, far surpassing the USD1.8 Visible Alpha consensus estimate. Revenue totalled USD200.61 billion, up 20% from USD167.70 billion and better than the USD196.4 billion consensus. Amazon Web Services sales totaled USD42.2 billion, up 37% on-year. Analysts had expected USD40.4 billion in sales, growth of 31%.
CEO Andy Jassy said the cloud business was "booming".
Microsoft and Meta ended up 3.0% and 3.3%, respectively, following earnings on Wednesday. Chipmakers ended mixed. Nvidia jumped 2.9% and Broadcom gained 0.4%. AMD declined 1.9%, Micron dropped 5.9% and Qualcomm declined 2.6%, however.
In Korea, SK Hynix leaped 30% and Samsung Electronics climbed 26%.
Oil major Chevron gained 1.4% on Friday following a stronger than-expected second quarter print. Peer Exxon declined 0.8%, however, as it reported adjusted EPS short of estimates.
Both companies profited from higher oil prices driven by the Iran war.
A barrel of Brent fetched USD90.09 a barrel on Friday, up from USD88.95 on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate rose to USD84.74 from USD83.50.
Iran on Friday said it conducted strikes on Kuwait's Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, in response to US strikes on Wednesday.
Egypt on Thursday reported a drone attack two ships at its Mediterranean port of Damietta. It is still unclear who is responsible for the attack.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods said "I wouldn't hold my breath here in the short term," when asked about a possible decline in energy prices.
"I think we're going to see prices consistent with what we're experiencing for quite a while yet," said Woods, describing a "disconnect" between crude and petrol markets distinct from long-term trends.
On the data front, US consumer sentiment improved sharply in July, reaching its highest level in five months, the University of Michigan said Friday.
UoM's consumer sentiment index rose 12% to 55.2 points in July from 49.5 in June. Despite the monthly improvement, the reading was down 12% from 61.7 a year earlier.
The current economic conditions index climbed 15% to 54.8 from 47.7, while the index of consumer expectations increased 9.3% to 55.4 from 50.7.
Short-term inflation expectations eased to 4.2% in July from 4.6% in June, although they remained well above the 3.4% recorded in February before the Iran conflict began.
Against the dollar, the euro was flat at USD1.1533. Sterling rose to USD1.3483 from USD1.3473. Against the yen, the dollar fell to JPY159.08 from JPY159.32.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury edged up to 4.71% from 4.67%, while the 30-year yield rose to 5.25% from 5.21%.
Gold fell to USD4,054.17 an ounce from USD4,112.20 on Thursday.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.3%. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.3%. The DAX 40 ended up 0.1% in Frankfurt.
In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.7%. The Hang Seng rose 0.1% in Hong Kong. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo jumped 4.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.1%.
Monday's corporate calendar has earnings from Palantir and onsemi.
The global economic calendar has US, eurozone and China manufacturing PMI. Markets in Canada are closed.
By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter
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