Body of kayaker missing on Fox River recovered, police say ...Middle East

Stocks rose to fresh highs on Thursday following solid earnings reports from tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Traders also looked ahead to a key trade deadline.

The S&P 500 traded 0.4% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8%. Both benchmarks hit record highs at the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline.

“Magnificent Seven” titans Microsoft and Meta respectively rose 6% and 11.5% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Software giant Microsoft said that annual revenue from its cloud computing service Azure exceeded $75 billion. Meta issued an upbeat third-quarter sales outlook, surpassing the Street’s estimates. Microsoft’s strong earnings print propelled the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization.

Fellow Mag-7 names Apple and Amazon are slated to report earnings after the bell Thursday.

“If you have been on the right side of this market, there have been incredible opportunities and tech and everywhere it spreads its tentacles,” said Ken Mahoney, president of Mahoney Asset Management. “We still cannot begin to understand if you are a growth manager why you would look anywhere else in this market.”

“If there was an AI themed Monopoly game, Park Place and Broadway would be Microsoft and Nvidia as the prized possessions. And they continue to ‘collect’ just like the board game,” he added.

Adding to the bullish sentiment, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said negotiations with China are at a point where both sides ” have the makings of a deal.” Bessent did not give any details on a potential deal, however, nor did he indicate when such an agreement could be made. The U.S. and China have until Aug. 12 before the truce over aggressive tariffs runs out.

His comments come ahead of a key Aug. 1 trade deadline.

To be sure, President Donald Trump poured some cold water on the market when he announced that a 25% duty on Mexican imports would be extended for another 90 days.

Thursday marks the last day of what has been a strong month on Wall Street. The S&P 500 has gained more than 3% in July, while the Nasdaq is up about 5%. The 30-stock Dow has climbed 1%.

Dow falls behind as tech fuels S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit fresh record highs following the strong results from Meta Platforms and Microsoft, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average was notably absent from the party.

The 30-stock Dow is the only major benchmark yet to reach new all-time highs this year, while its tech-heavy peers have managed to ride an AI-fueled rally over the last several months to fresh records. The blue-chip index was last lower, down 0.3% in midday trading.

The blue-chip index, which has a higher concentration of value stocks than growth stocks, tends to outperform during market downturns such as in 2022. In years when the market rallies on tech, such as in 2023 and 2024, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq tend to do better.

— Sarah Min

27 stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs

During Thursday’s session, 27 stocks in the S&P 500 traded at new 52-week highs.

Names that hit this milestone included:

On the other hand, 25 stocks in the index traded at new 52-week lows, including:

— Christopher Hayes, Lisa Kailai Han

Meta shares have nearly 30% upside ahead as AI fuels new growth cycle, HSBC says

HSBC sees AI capex-fueled growth ahead for Meta.

Analyst Nicolas Cote-Colisson upgraded his price target by $290 to $900, which implies about 29.5% potential upside for the tech giant. He also upgraded the stock to buy.

Artificial intelligence is creating opportunities for Meta that can support double-digit revenue growth in the coming years, particularly by bringing in more search-related traffic, ad dollars and tools for advertisers to reach clients, Cote-Colisson wrote in a Thursday note to clients.

“We see Meta in a strong position to outpace digital ad market growth,” the analyst said. “Meta already captures 31.6% of the global digital ad market in 25e and can get more incremental revenue than its fair share, we think. AI capabilities improve targeting and quality of content. Time spent on the different platforms keeps increasing. In addition, user count is still expanding, reinforcing the network effect (where revenue increases faster than users).”

Meta shares rallied more than 12% in Thursday morning trading, after the company on Wednesday reported a significant second-quarter earnings and revenue beat.

— Pia Singh

Morgan Stanley downgrades Align following earnings miss

Morgan Stanley moved to the sidelines on Align Technology after the dental product maker’s earnings miss.

Analyst Erin Wright downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight. Wright also slashed her price target to $154 from $249, an eye-popping 38% reduction.

“Our prior OW thesis was based on ALGN’s leadership in a high growth category, but growth has been challenged for years, w/ limited clarity on path from here,” Wright wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. “ALGN’s latest earnings shortfall and guidance cut … calls into question line of sight to LT growth recovery.”

Wright’s downgrade comes as the Invisalign parent’s stock slides more than 30% on Thursday, on track for its worst session since 2007. Align earned $2.49 per share on $1.01 billion in revenue for the second quarter, while analysts polled by FactSet anticipated $2.57 per share and $1.06 billion, respectively.

— Alex Harring

Stocks open higher with tech leading the way

Stocks opened higher on Thursday, with technology stocks carrying the brunt of the gains for the major indexes.

The S&P 500 added 0.65%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 62 points, or 0.1%.

— Brian Evans

Inflation higher than expected, Fed’s preferred gauge shows

Inflation in June was a touch hotter than expected and still above target, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred forecasting measure.

The personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 12-month seasonally adjusted rate of 2.6% on the headline measure and 2.8% on core excluding food and energy, according to the Commerce Department. Both were 0.1 percentage point higher than the Dow Jones consensus forecast. However, the monthly increases of 0.3% were in line.

The Fed targets inflation at 2%,

Personal income increased 0.3%, compared to the 0.2% estimate, while spending also rose 0.3%, against the outlook for 0.4%.

—Jeff Cox

Trump attacks Powell after Federal Reserve holds rates steady

President Donald Trump attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell again after the central bank held interest rates steady this week.

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“He is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS, in addition to one of the most incompetent, or corrupt, renovations of a building(s) in the history of construction! Put another way, “Too Late” is a TOTAL LOSER, and our Country is paying the price!,” the president said.

Two Fed governors opposed holding rates steady on Wednesday.

Trump visited the Fed last week where he and Powell sparred over the costs of renovating the building.

— Spencer Kimball

Moderna to cut 10% of its workforce

Moderna said on Thursday that it plans to cut about 10% of its global workforce by the end of 2025, amid slowing sales for Covid-19 shots and broader uncertainty in the vaccine market.

“Every effort was made to avoid affecting jobs,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a memo discussing the layoffs. “But today, reshaping our operating structure and aligning our cost structure to the realities of our business are essential to remain focused and financially disciplined, while continuing to invest in our science on the path to 2027.”

— Brian Evans

Microsoft to top $4 trillion market cap

Microsoft shares popped more than 8% after its stronger-than-expected quarterly report. That gain put the tech giant on track to reach a market cap of more than $4 trillion — joining Nvidia.

— Fred Imbert

Asia-Pacific markets end the day mostly lower

Asia-Pacific markets mostly ended lower Thursday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.51% in its last hour while mainland China’s CSI 300 index declined 1.82% to 4,075.59.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.28% to close at 3,245.44, while the small-cap Kosdaq moved up 0.2% to 805.24.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark fell 0.16% to end the day at 8,742.80.

Over in India, the 50-stock benchmark Nifty 50 was up 0.18%, while the BSE Sensex index was flat as of 1.05 p.m. Indian Standard Time (3.35 a.m. ET).

— Amala Balakrishner

Market is ‘losing its glass-half-full bias,’ strategist says

The market could be losing some of its optimism following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, according to TradeStation global head of market strategy David Russell. 

“The market could be losing its glass-half-full bias as the realities of tariffs and seasonality kick in. Investors have mostly looked past warning signs like the last CPI report, which showed the impact of trade duties,” Russell said. “Those pressures might increase going forward, especially if the White House pursues secondary sanctions on Russia’s oil buyers like China.”

— Brian Evans

Alignment Healthcare surges 20% in extended trading

Shares of Alignment Healthcare popped in after-hours trading after the health-care company posted second-quarter beats and solid guidance.

Medicare player Alignment Healthcare reported earnings of 7 cents a share, while FactSet consensus estimates sought a loss of 7 cents a share. Revenue landed at $1.02 billion, compared to the Street’s estimate for $960.5 million.

For the third quarter, Alignment sees revenue coming in at $970 million to $985 million, while the FactSet consensus called for $956.8 million.

–Bertha Coombs, Darla Mercado

Microsoft joins exclusive $4 trillion market cap club, boosted by 8% after-hours gains

Shares of Microsoft jumped 8% in Wednesday’s extended trading hours, after the software giant posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results.

The after-hours gain lifted Microsoft’s market capitalization to about $4.1 trillion. If this rally continues on Thursday, Microsoft will officially join chipmaker Nvidia in the exclusive $4 trillion market cap club. Nvidia hit the benchmark level earlier this month.

Apple is third on the leaderboard, with a total market capitalization of around $3.2 trillion.

— Ari Levy, Jordan Novet, Lisa Kailai Han

Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: Microsoft, Meta and more

These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

S&P 500 futures, Nasdaq 100 futures rise

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rose on Wednesday night, boosted by after-hours gains in shares of Meta Platforms and Microsoft.

Futures tied to the broad market benchmark rose 0.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.9%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23 points, or 0.05%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

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