Finance

A blockbuster fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report from Microsoft drove its stock up by roughly 15%, easing broad investor anxieties surrounding artificial intelligence infrastructure expenditures. This corporate optimism ignited a massive rally across memory and semiconductor equities, allowing several chipmakers to achieve double-digit percentage gains.

Newly released government figures showed that the United States economy grew at a 1.5% pace in the second quarter, coming in notably below initial expectations due to dips in federal outlays and inventories. Meanwhile, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index met economic projections, indicating that while foundational demand remains steady, absolute growth is decelerating.

Fixed-income securities experienced slight volatility with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fluctuating around 4.65% to 4.69% and the 30-year yield holding near 5.2%. Market participants continue to closely monitor the bond market as hawkish signals and a persistent focus on inflation suggest further interest rate hikes could remain on the central bank's radar.