S&P 500 closes higher Friday as Amazon surges; Dow posts fourth straight winning month: Live updates

The major averages were markedly higher Friday, the last trading session in July, as investors looked past rising bond yields and Amazon shares jumped.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1% to end at 25,373.85, while the S&P 500 added 0.7% to close at 7,489.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 276.97 points, or 0.53%, to 52,485.03.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield spiked to its highest levels since 2007 this week. It was last up about 4 basis points on the day at 5.25%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield topped 4.7% on the day, its highest level since January 2025.

The moves come as investors lost faith in Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's commitment to curb inflation, leading yields to jump. While Warsh indicated he is committed to the inflation fight, he did say this week, "We've got no magic wand."

"As [the yield for 10-year Treasury bonds] moves toward five percent, five percent is perhaps a level that will cause angst for sentiment and pressure valuations," Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bancorp Asset Management, told CNBC.

The strategist underscored that this "is a roller coaster market filled with angst and opportunity."

"On one hand, there's much to like about the market environment. Inflation is relatively steady, interest rates are range bound, and earnings are robust," Sandven said. "Conversely, you've got Middle East conflict, the Middle East conflict that continues, and that's pushing oil prices higher, which of course is inflationary."

West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose about 1.3% to settle at $84.67 a barrel, while international Brent futures advanced 1.2% to $90.12 a barrel.

Hyperscaler and other artificial intelligence-related companies' earnings also colored investor sentiment.

Amazon surged 15% 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, in contrast, was more than 7% lower. The firm's fiscal third-quarter revenue topped expectations, helped by a 22% jump in iPhone sales, though a shortfall in service revenue pushed its stock lower.

The moves followed a powerful rally during Thursday's session led by Microsoft — which jumped 16% after the software giant posted stronger-than-expected Azure cloud growth. 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.

Despite the week's sharp swings, the major averages remained on track to finish higher. The Dow was up about 1% for the week, along with the S&P 500. The Nasdaq Composite climbed about 1.6%.

However, the S&P 500 dropped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.2%. The Dow was up 0.3% in July, notching its fourth consecutive positive month.

The three major indexes closed higher on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.53%, or about 276.97 points, to finish at 52,485.03. The S&P 500 settled up 0.7% to 7,489.72, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1% to end the session at 25,373.85.

Semiconductors are on pace for their worst month since 2008, in spite of Friday's gains. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) was last lower by 16.9% month to date.

The slump continues as SpaceX lost over 36% of its value in the last month.Â

This comes after the aerospace manufacturer and stock also fell from its June high of $225.64 to $113.50 last Monday, leaving the company's total market value to shrink more than $1.2 trillion.

Aside from a few days after SpaceX's debut public offering, its stock has seen a decline in value in the last month. Shares dropped over 3.5% as of Friday afternoon.Â

"Magnificent Seven" darling Microsoft is tracking for its best month in almost 19 years.

Following the company's post-earnings surge on Thursday, and additional gains on Friday, the stock is now on track to rise more than 20% in July. That's the biggest rise in a single month since October 2007 for shares of Microsoft.

As of Wednesday, Microsoft was only up just over 1.5% on the month, but the stock surged 15% on Thursday following the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report. Investors came away from that report more confident in Microsoft's artificial intelligence strategy.

Microsoft added to those gains on Friday, up another 2.5%.

The Nasdaq-100 fell approximately 7% in July, recording its steepest monthly decline since March 2025, when it lost 7.69%.

The index previously declined 4.89% in March 2026 and 2.32% in February but both those losses were followed by sharp rebounds of 15.64% in April and 10.49% in May this year. The momentum, however faded with a 0.19% decline in June, before falling to 6.95% in July.

Uncertainty surrounding the war in Iran, volatile oil prices, a hawkish Federal Reserve, and a sharp semiconductor sell-off weighed on the tech-heavy index. Investors have been concerned about the lofty tech valuations and whether surging AI spending will generate adequate returns.

The U.S. dollar is close to the session low against the Japanese yen at 158.15.Â

Thursday's low of 157.96 was the lowest level since May 14. Week-to-date the dollar is down 3.3% versus the yen, on pace for the biggest weekly slide since July, 2024.

Japanese monetary authorities likely intervened in currency markets this week to prop up the yen as traders braced Friday for another potential mediation.

"Japan's Ministry of Finance seemingly intervened in foreign exchange markets in defense of the yen," UBS economist Paul Donovan wrote in a Friday analysis. "This may have been more about the pace of weakness than any specific level."

Democratic senators on Friday demanded information on more than a dozen critical mineral deals with the federal government that potentially benefit the families of President Donald Trump or Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The federal government is working on deals with at least 14 companies that have financial ties to the Trump or Lutnick families, the senators said, pointing to a New York Times investigation in June. The Trump administration has provided or is considering providing more than $8.9 billion in funding to the companies, according to the Times.

The senators asked the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior and the Export-Import Bank of the United States to preserve all records and communications related to those deals.

ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday reported second-quarter profits that surged on rising oil prices due to the Iran war.

Chevron's net income soared to $12 billion, a nearly 400% increase compared to $2.5 billion in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings came in at $6.06 per share, 50 cents higher than Wall Street's estimates.

"We're kind of firing on all cylinders, which is good, because the world needs it," CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC's Becky Quick.

Chevron shares rose about 1%, while Exxon shares were down more than 2%.

Shares of Novo Nordisk fell as much as 10% on Friday after the drugmaker said a late-stage heart drug trial failed to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events, or MACE, compared to a placebo.

While the experimental medicine, ziltivekimab, did show some biological effect, it didn't translate into a statistically meaningful reduction in MACE, defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack or non-fatal stroke, for patients with certain diseases, Novo said in a statement on Friday.

The missed endpoint is the latest blow to the Danish drugmaker, which is racing to restore investor confidence in its pipeline and ability to execute, especially in the challenging U.S. market.

Shares of Replimune surged 133% after a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee backed the results of the clinical-stage biotechnology company's skin care trial.

The panel voted 10-3 on Thursday in favor of Replimune's drug, RP1, which the FDA has already declined to approve twice. The company is trying to get accelerated approval with RP1 to use with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo for patients with advanced melanoma.

The FDA is expected to decide on the drug's approval by Aug. 2.

An ETF made up of all women-led companies hit an intraday all-time high of 39.44 on Friday. The Hypatia Women CEO ETF, which launched in June 2023, holds names such as nVent, Arista Networks, Exponent, Seaport Therapeutics and Franklin Resources — all of which are up 3% or more on Friday.

The ETF has gained nearly 20% so far this year, more than double than the S&P 500's year-to-date performance.

Consumer sentiment perked up a bit in July as inflation fears abated, the University of Michigan reported Friday.

The Survey of Consumers posted a 55.2 reading for the end of the month, rising 11.5% from a month ago and better than the Dow Jones consensus for 54.0. However, it was still 10.5% below the same period in 2025. Current conditions and expectations indexes produced similar monthly gains.

On inflation, the one-year view dipped to 4.2%, down 0.4 percentage point from May and the lowest since March. The five-year outlook was unchanged at 3.3%.

"Despite recent gains, sentiment is 11% below a year ago, reflecting a generally somber view of the economy amid five years of elevated inflation and persistent high prices," said survey director Joanne Hsu. "Consumers remain focused on pocketbook issues like purchasing power, while political or military developments remain more in the background."

Stocks opened higher on Friday. The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.2%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced more than 0.3%, or to 195 points.

Compensation paid to U.S. workers rose slightly more than expected in the second quarter but still lagged the pace of price increases.

The employment cost index increased 0.9% for the April-through-June period, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That was slightly above the 0.8% consensus estimate from Dow Jones.

On an annual basis, the index increased 3.4%, which was just below the 3.5% gain in the consumer price index, which is the BLS' main inflation gauge.

Moderna fell more than 6% in pre-market trading Friday after reporting its second-quarter earnings and revising some of its financial forecasts for the current year.Â

The biotechnology company reported earnings of $1.97 per share, or less than the $2.03 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. However, the vaccine maker posted $145 million in revenue for the period, exceeding analysts' consensus estimate for $102.9 million.Â

The firm also revealed that it plans to spend less than previously expected on drug research and development (R&D) in 2026. Moderna lowered its R&D target for the current year to $2.9 billion — a figure that is below both the firm's previous forecast of $3 billion and the Street's consensus estimate of $2.93 billion for the same period.

Shares of sandwich restaurant chain Jersey Mike's rebounded slightly on Friday after the stock closed below its $23 IPO price during its New York Stock Exchange debut on Thursday.Â

The stock tumbled almost 6% on Thursday, closing at $21.63. In premarket trading Friday, shares were up 1%, around $21.90, though still below the IPO price.Â

Here are the key stock moves in premarket trading as investors wrap up a busy earnings week.

The U.K.'s blue chip FTSE 100 index has hit a new all-time high at 10,981.83 points, amid buoyant broader market sentiment.

The index is led by listed fund Polar Capital Technology Trust, amid strong gains in global tech stocks, followed by defense group BAE Systems and NatWest bank, rising 4.4%, 4% and 3.9%, respectively.

"Investors continue to climb the wall of worry and sentiment improves," said investment director of retail trading platform AJ Bell, Russ Mould. "The rebound in tech powered by Microsoft's extremely well-received numbers has helped lift the broader market mood, helping investors to put concerns about the Iran conflict and its continuing impact on ice for now."

Defense stocks were mostly in the green in morning trading after a new set of European earnings updates pointed to rapidly growing order backlogs, amid an increase in government spending on military equipment.Â

Italy's state-backed Leonardo hiked its full-year guidance after reporting a 45% rise in new orders in the first six months of the year. It sees earnings before interest, tax, and appreciation at 2.21 billion euros ($2.54 billion), up from 2.03 billion euros previously.

The maker of helicopters and military electronics also sees full-year new orders at 28.2 billion euros, up from 25 billion euros previously. Milan-listed shares rose 3.5%.

Germany's defense electronics company Hensoldt was the only major European defense player trading lower early Friday, down 2.4%, paring steeper losses earlier in the session.Â

The sensor and radar maker reiterated 2026 targets even as order intake more than doubled in the first half of the year.

"The political decisions to increase defence spending are ​now being reflected in our order book," CEO ⁠Oliver Doerre said in a statement. Â

Universal Music Group's shares plummeted more than 23%, hitting a 52-week low, after the world's largest record label posted a 0.3% year-on-year decline in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, at 674Â million euros ($775.8 million).

Meanwhile, subscription revenues rose 16.6% to 1.37 billion euros in the three-month period, boosted by Universal's acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings. But that fell short of the 19% rise forecasted by analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

Trading of Universal's Amsterdam-listed shares were halted Friday morning following the plunge.

Shares in Vivendi, which holds a 10% stake in Universal, the world's largest record label, were last seen 17.8% lower.

Asia-Pacific markets ended mostly higher on Friday, led by a sharp rebound in South Korea's technology-heavy benchmark index after a bruising sell-off earlier this week.

South Korea's Kospi surged 17.9% to clock its best day on record, closing at 6,595.45, while the small-cap Kosdaq jumped 11.6% to 719.76.

Taiwan's Taiex rallied 8% to 43,119.75, and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 4% to 64,362.02 as semiconductor shares tracked a strong overnight rally on Wall Street.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.10% higher at 8,976.80. China's CSI 300 rose 0.85%, closing at 4,588.20, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading flat as of its last hour of trade.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.74% shortly after 8:00 a.m. in London (3:00 a.m. E.T.), as most regional sectors and major bourses began the session in positive territory.

Basic resources led gains, rising 1.27%, with technology stocks up 1.17%.On the flipside, travel and leisure names and media companies were both down almost 1% in early dealmaking.

All major bourses edged higher, with the FTSE 100, CAC 40, the DAX and the FTSE MIB all last seen in the green.

U.K. energy major BP said Friday it intends to sell its business in the North Sea.

The oil giant will begin a process of marketing its North Sea interests as part of a broader review of its assets. The London-listed firm employs about 1,100 people in its North Sea business, which includes two production hubs in the central North Sea, and three locations west of Shetland.

U.K. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said North Sea oil is a "vital national asset" adding that oil and gas will be part of the country's energy mix "for years to come."

"My priority is ensuring that the workers and local community are protected during this sale process," Fahnbulleh said.

The Bank of Japan kept its policy rate steady on Friday, as it warned that core inflation in the country could exceed its 2% target.

Japan's central bank's move to hold rates at 1% was an 8-1 decision, with board member Hajime Takata proposing a hike to 1.25%.

In its outlook, the BOJ said that core inflation was likely to accelerate to a level "clearly above" 2% from the second half of its 2026 fiscal year, which runs from September to March.

It cited wage increases being passed along into selling prices, the rise in crude oil prices and the recent depreciation of the yen. Inflation should then come down toward 2% as crude oil prices decline, it said.

Japan's core inflation for July came in at 1.6%, and has been below 2% for most of 2026.

Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard on Friday announced plans to acquire Zabka Group, Poland's largest convenience store operator, in a deal valuing the company at about 32.62 billion zloty ($8.6 billion).Â

The transaction has been approved by Zabka's management and shareholders representing avout 57% of the company's issued and outstanding shares, including financial sponsors such as CVC Capital Partners and Partners Group, Couche-Tard said.Â

The deal would expand Couche-Tard's presence in central and eastern Europe while complementing its existing network of nearly 400 Circle K service stations in Poland, according to the press release.

The announcement comes after Zabka and Japan's Seven & i Holdings could not agree on terms for the purchase of the polish company.Â

European futures moved higher ahead of Friday's market open, with Stoxx 50 futures up 0.63%, following the U.S. market rebound.

Markets in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan were all seen starting the day higher, capping a positive week for major European bourses.

Italy's FTSE MIB was expected to begin the session 0.65% up, with the German DAX 0.63% higher. France's CAC 40 was set open 0.61% up, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was 0.49% higher.

Oil prices extended declines on Friday as signs of a recovery in crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz eased supply concerns, after a resumption of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran had sent prices higher.

West Texas Intermediate futures for September delivery dropped 1.62% to $82.24. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, fell by 0.98%% to $88.16 a barrel.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note on Friday that stronger oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz had eased market concerns after U.S.-Iran strikes earlier this week briefly pushed Brent above $93 a barrel.

The bank estimates traffic through the vital waterway has recovered to roughly 30%-35% of pre-war levels, adding that a rebound to around 50%-60% of normal flows could be enough to reassert oversupply conditions in the global oil market.

Shares of Mitsubishi Materials rose more than 5% Friday after the company announced plans to invest about 50 million euros ($57.6 million) to expand its tungsten recycling capacity at its German subsidiary, H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH.

The investment will increase annual tungsten scrap processing capacity at H.C. Starck's Goslar site in Germany from about 5,000 metric tons to 7,000 metric tons, with construction set to begin in 2026 and be completed by 2028.

Shares of HSBC's Hong Kong-listed shares hit an intra-day record high on Friday, after Blackstone agreed to acquire the lender's A$36 billion ($25 billion) home and personal loan portfolio in Australia.

The deal represents "the largest home loan portfolio transaction globally," according to a press release by Blackstone, as it continues to deploy significant capital to support Australia's housing market.

The lender's Hong Kong-listed shares last traded 1.78% higher at 167.50 Hong Kong dollars.

China's factory activity unexpectedly contracted in July for the first time since February, as the export rush that powered a second-quarter rebound began to unwind, piling pressure on Beijing to boost domestic demand.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.2 from 50.3 in June, National Bureau of Statistics data showed Friday, dropping below the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction. Economists' median forecast had pegged PMI at 50.

South Korea's chip heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics skyrocketed in Seoul on Friday, tracking a sharp rally in U.S. technology stocks after blockbuster earnings from Amazon and Microsoft revived optimism around artificial intelligence spending.

SK Hynix was last trading over 25% higher, putting it on course for its best day on record if gains hold. Samsung rose more than 20%. LG Innotek advanced 11.2% and Seoul Semiconductor rose 7.8%.

Japanese chip stocks also rallied sharply. Advantest, climbed nearly 18%, while Tokyo Electron gained almost 9%, Disco rose over 13%, Lasertec advanced more than 12% and Renesas Electronics added over 10%. SoftBank Group, a key artificial intelligence proxy as its owns Arm, also jumped more than 9%.

In Asia, South Korea's Kospi surged over 14%, leading gains in the region after chip behemoths SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics surged, triggering a trading halt.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped over 5%, while the Topix added 1.94%. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.64%

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.83%.

Asia-Pacific markets were set for a higher open Friday, tracking Wall Street's sharp rebound after upbeat earnings from Amazon lifted investor sentiment and pushed Nasdaq futures higher in overnight trading.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to jump, with the futures contract in Chicago at 63,830 against the index's last close of 61,867.43.

Similarly, futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index last traded at 26,021 compared to the index's close of 25,858.88.

Futures for Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 were last at 9,010 compared to the index's close of 8,967.7.

Here are a number of stocks making big moves in extended trading:

Coinbase — Shares of the crypto exchange slid more than 5% after posting its third straight quarterly loss.

Rivian Automotive — The electric vehicle maker's shares rose nearly 2% after the firm reduced its 2026 spending plans and slightly narrowed its previously forecasted losses this year.

Reddit — The social media platform's shares sank over 7% in after-hours trading, as investors grew concerned about the company's search-referral traffic from Google.

First Solar — Shares of First Solar rose more than 3% after the company reported second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations, even as revenue was roughly in line with estimates.

Main Street investors polled by the American Association of Individual Investors remained uncharacteristically gloomy for a 25th straight week.

The number of mom-and-pop investors who described themselves as bearish about the outlook for stocks over the coming six months dipped to 42.1% in the week ended Wednesday, down from 42.3% last week and against an historical average of 31.0%, the AAII said. The last time fewer than 31.0% of individual investors said they were pessimistic was in early February, before the start of the war with Iran later that month.

Bullish investors rose to 31.0% from 29.6% last week, the second week in a row that the percentage of optimists was below the historical average of 37.5%.

Neutral investors fell to 26.9% from 28.1%. The percentage of investors who are agnostic on stocks has been below the historical average of 31.5% every week since mid-January 2025, shortly before the start of President Trump's second term.

The Iran war has been great for America's publicly-traded oil refineries.

Crack spreads — the gross profit margin an oil refinery makes by turning a barrel of crude into gasoline and other products — are strong and four refining stocks closed at all-time highs on Thursday: PBF Energy, Delek US Holdings, Par Pacific Holdings and HF Sinclair.

Three other refiners, the largest in the group — Valero Energy, Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 — are close to the all-time highs they reached just last week.

PBF, up 170% in 2026, reported blowout second-quarter earnings excluding one-time items of $6.22 per share premarket Thursday. Analysts had estimated $4.15 per share, according to FactSet data. Revenue of $11.7 billion also beat the $9.6 billion Street consensus.