One day after the Federal Reserve's hawkish hold sent stocks to their worst session since 2025, the market came roaring back, and it had a single name written on it: Microsoft. A blowout quarter sent the software giant up 15%, reignited the whole artificial-intelligence trade, and dragged the beaten-down chip stocks off the floor. Micron and AMD surged double digits, the Nasdaq jumped 2.8% to end a six-day losing streak, and the mood flipped from fear to greed overnight. Not everyone was invited, though: Meta slumped 8%.
Market snapshot
| Instrument | Level | Move |
|---|---|---|
| US equities (Thu Jul 30 close) | ||
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,122.18 | +2.8% · snaps 6-day slide |
| S&P 500 | 7,437.64 | +1.7% |
| Dow Jones | 52,208.06 | +1.2% · +614 pts |
| Earnings & chip movers | ||
| Microsoft | Azure +43% | +15% |
| Micron / AMD | chip rebound | +18% / +13% |
| SanDisk / Intel | memory & chips | +26% / ≈ +11% |
| Meta | weak guidance | −8% |
| Commodities & FX | ||
| Gold (XAU/USD) | $4,107.98 | +1.03% · softer dollar |
| Brent Crude | $89.36 | −1.88% · Hormuz reopens |
| USD/JPY | 162.94 | dollar softer |
| EUR/USD | 1.1476 | firmer euro |
Index closes are for the Thursday 30 July session; commodity and FX levels are verified on live price pages. Single-stock moves are shown for context and are approximate. Always check live prices with your broker.
Microsoft ignites the rebound
The whole day traced back to one earnings report. Microsoft jumped about 15% after a fiscal fourth quarter that beat on every line that mattered: revenue of $90 billion, up nearly 18%, and, crucially, an Azure cloud business that grew 43% and crossed $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. It also guided the next quarter above expectations. For a market that spent the past fortnight punishing megacaps for spending heavily on AI without obvious payback, this was the answer the bulls needed: proof that at least one giant's AI investment is translating into real, accelerating growth. The reaction was not just a Microsoft story, it was permission to believe in the whole trade again.
Live Microsoft chart (last three months). Prices shown are current, not the session covered above.
The chips roar back
If Microsoft lit the match, the semiconductors were the fuel. The same chip names that had been sold off hard all week snapped back violently as dip buyers piled in, betting the AI trade has further to run. Micron surged about 18%, AMD rose 13%, SanDisk soared 26%, Intel added around 11% and Taiwan Semiconductor climbed 7%. A broad gauge of chipmakers rallied roughly 8% in a single day. That kind of move is the mirror image of the correction that took the Nasdaq more than 10% off its peak only days ago, and it was enough to lift the Nasdaq Composite 2.8% to 25,122, ending a punishing six-day losing streak. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Dow climbed 614 points, recovering almost all of the previous day's Fed-driven loss.
Not everyone won: Meta slumps
The rebound had a clear loser. Meta fell about 8%, and its report was the opposite of Microsoft's. The company missed, guided revenue lower than the market wanted, and reported a startling 91% collapse in second-quarter free cash flow as its own spending ballooned. It is the same split we have watched all through this earnings season: the market is rewarding the megacaps whose heavy AI spending is clearly working and punishing the ones where the cash is going out faster than the results are coming in. Microsoft and Meta reported on the same evening and moved violently in opposite directions, which tells you the market is now grading these companies one by one, not treating "Big Tech" as a single trade.
Beneath the bounce
For all the euphoria in tech, the macro backdrop stayed uneasy. Second-quarter GDP came in soft, a sign the economy is slowing, yet Treasury yields stayed high near 4.7% because the worry is still that inflation proves sticky, exactly the fear that drove yesterday's hawkish Fed. Markets now price around a 60% chance of a September rate hike, cooler than the near-80% odds right after the decision, but still remarkable for a Fed that was expected to cut this year. In commodities, gold rose 1% to about $4,108, helped by a softer dollar and continued Middle East tension. Oil went the other way: Brent fell 1.9% to $89.36 as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz recovered (traffic jumped back toward normal), Chinese inventories stayed high, and Saudi Arabia floated a naval coalition to protect the route.
What it means for traders
Two lessons from a violent two-day round trip. First, this remains a market where a single earnings report can move everything: Microsoft alone flipped sentiment from a correction back to a rally in one session, so headline risk around the megacaps is enormous in both directions. Second, the AI trade is being re-rated stock by stock, Microsoft up 15%, Meta down 8% on the same night, which rewards knowing the difference rather than buying "tech" as a block. Underneath it all, the rate story has not gone away: yields near 4.7% and live hike odds mean any hot inflation print could snap the mood straight back the other way, just as it did on Wednesday. When a market can swing this hard in 48 hours, the edge is process, not prediction: keep risk small per trade, size every position deliberately, and remember that most traders lose by risking too much into exactly this kind of whipsaw. You can read how the selloff began in our Fed decision wrap.
This market wrap is for information and education only and is not financial advice, a forecast, or a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Prices, yields and percentage moves are approximate, sourced from public price pages and reports, and may be delayed or revised; single-stock moves cited are for context. Trading forex, CFDs and leveraged products carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors; you can lose more than your deposit. Always do your own research.