Finance

Strong earnings results alleviated persistent market anxieties regarding capital expenditures for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Microsoft shares experienced their largest single-day percentage gain since 2008 after posting quarterly profits that comfortably beat analyst expectations. E-commerce giant Amazon similarly soared over 8% in after-hours trading after showcasing strong revenue metrics driven by its cloud-computing division.

An advance estimate from the Commerce Department revealed that gross domestic product slowed unexpectedly in the second quarter of the year. The 1.5% growth rate missed economist projections, decelerating from the 2.1% recorded in the first quarter. A widening trade deficit driven by massive imports of AI hardware capped headline growth, even as consumer spending and business investments remained robust.

Energy and precious metal commodities showed contrasting moves as traders evaluated international developments. Spot gold futures climbed 3.4% to trade at $4,170 an ounce, supported by a softening U.S. dollar index. Conversely, crude oil benchmarks gave back some of their recent gains, with Brent crude settling near $89 a barrel as the market digested U.S. military updates regarding Iran.