Finance

A dramatic earnings divide between two megacap giants pulled sector performance in opposite directions. Amazon shares surged roughly 15% after delivering better-than-expected cloud-computing and digital infrastructure profits, driving its largest single-day market value gain in history. Conversely, Apple shares plunged over 7% following a disappointing revenue forecast that wiped out hundreds of billions in market capitalization.

Long-term bond yields pushed upward following public pushback from central bank officials who favored higher interest rates during the recent policy meeting. The 10-year Treasury note yield rose to 4.743%, while the 30-year bond hit a multi-decade high of 5.274%. Fixed-income markets remain jittery as investors reassess long-term inflation metrics and the transparency of upcoming policy decisions.

The blistering multi-month rally in chipmaking equities unraveled with unprecedented volatility, fuel by fears that high levels of artificial intelligence infrastructure spending may cool down. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index plummeted 21% over the course of July, marking its steepest one-month collapse since October 2008. Compounding western supply concerns, the explosive public trading debut of Chinese memory manufacturer CXMT further unsettled global market dynamics.