Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on July 30, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
U.S. futures were higher early Friday as Wall Street staged a sharp rebound, with upbeat earnings from Amazon adding to optimism.
Nasdaq 100 futures gained more than 1%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 293 points, or 0.56%, while S&P 500 futures inched up 0.41%
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi soared over 15% Friday after chip behemoths SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics surged. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged more than 3%. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.27%. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.11%, while CSI 300 was up 1.24%.
European markets also traded higher on Friday, with the pan-continental Stoxx 600 up 0.94% in morning trade, as France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX each added about 1%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and the Italian FTSE MIB also moved higher.
In extended trading, Amazon surged more than 9% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter revenue. The results, which were aided by the strength of its cloud-computing business, reinforced investor confidence in artificial intelligence spending.
Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenue topped expectations, helped by a 22% jump in iPhone sales. However, a shortfall in service revenue led to a 6% decline in its stock.
The after-hours moves followed a powerful rally during Thursday’s regular session, led by Microsoft, which jumped 16% after the software giant posted stronger-than-expected Azure cloud growth. The results sparked a broad advance across AI-linked chipmakers, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) climbing more than 8%.
The recovery came after a bruising session on Wednesday, when the Dow plunged more than 1,100 points, its worst one-day decline since April 2025. Selling accelerated late in the session after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, fueling concerns that policymakers were falling behind in the fight against inflation.
Those worries rippled through the Treasury market. The 30-year Treasury yield climbed 6 basis points Wednesday to above 5.2%, hovering near its highest level since 2007.
“Investors are recalibrating expectations for Fed rate cuts, reducing the excess liquidity that has fueled speculative, momentum-driven markets,” Richard Bernstein, global head of macro and customized investing​ at Janus Henderson Investors, said. “Market leadership is expanding beyond the ‘Magnificent 7’ as investors increasingly reward improving fundamentals rather than hype-driven momentum.”
Despite the week’s sharp swings, the major averages remained on track to finish higher. The Dow was up about 0.5% for the week heading into Friday’s session, while the S&P 500 had gained roughly 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead about 0.6%.