As large tech stocks (big tech) showed strength, major stock indices on the New York Stock Exchange started higher on the 31st (local time).
At 9:43 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on the same day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22.72 points (0.05%) compared to the previous day, standing at 44,484.
At the same time, the large-cap-focused Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index and tech-focused Nasdaq index also rose by 38.04 points (0.6%) and 236.63 points (1.12%), respectively, compared to the previous day. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices each reached 6,427.02 and 21,457.48 early in the day, setting new all-time highs.
As the earnings announcement period begins, big tech stimulated investor sentiment by reporting an 'earnings surprise.'
Microsoft (MS) is showing strong stock performance as it reported fourth-quarter earnings (April to June) for the 2025 fiscal year that exceeded market expectations. The cloud institutional sector appears to have driven the results. Microsoft has become the second company in the world, after Nvidia, to surpass a market capitalization of $4 trillion.
Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms also recorded a stock increase of over 10% as its revenue and earnings per share (EPS) for the second quarter (April to June) surpassed market expectations.
In addition, stocks of Nvidia, Amazon, Broadcom, and Tesla are showing an upward trend. Apple and Alphabet (Google), however, are down early in the day.
The reduction of tariff uncertainty seems to have played a role as well. As the deadline for mutual tariff imposed by the Donald Trump administration approaches, a trade agreement has been reached with major countries. The Trump administration completed trade negotiations with Korea, Japan, the European Union (EU), Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia.
However, inflation concerns arising from tariff policies have resurfaced. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for June, released before the market opened that day, showed a 2.6% increase compared to the same month last year, exceeding market expectations (2.5%). The core PCE price index for June, excluding volatile food and energy prices, also rose by 2.8% compared to the same period last year, surpassing market expectations (2.7%).
At least the labor market maintained a favorable trend. The U.S. Department of Labor announced that initial unemployment claims rose by 1,000 to 218,000 cases for the week of July 20-26. This figure was below market expectations (222,000) and remains at a low level.