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July 31, 2026 - 00:22
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(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia looked set to rise Friday after a rebound in megacap US technology shares revived confidence in the artificial intelligence trade.Equity-index futures for Australia, Japan and South Korea pointed to gains after the S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq 100 climbed 3.4%. Microsoft Corp. surged 16%, adding roughly $450 billion to its value, the most by any stock in a single day. Contracts for US equities rose in Asia as Amazon.com Inc. jumped in late trading after reporting cloud-computing revenue that accelerated for the fifth straight quarter. Apple Inc. slipped after hours on weak China sales.Elsewhere, the dollar extended its decline a day after the Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged and as the yen surged abruptly amid speculation Japanese authorities intervened to support the currency.The focus now shifts to whether blockbuster earnings from AI leaders can revive momentum after the recent pullback. Investors will be watching for further signs that heavy spending translate into faster growth and stronger profits.“Despite near-term volatility, the outlook for US equities remains constructive, supported by strong corporate earnings, ongoing AI adoption, a resilient economy, and favorable financial conditions,” said Sameer Samana at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.In Asia, the yen soared by the most in more than two years against the US dollar, with Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reporting that officials stepped in once again to try and prop up the nation’s sagging currency.The latest moves in the yen come just ahead of the Bank of Japan’s next policy decision on Friday, in which policymakers are expected to hold rates after last month’s hike.“Previous interventions have been followed by BOJ hikes, most recently in mid-2024,” said Rory Green, an economist at TS Lombard.Read: BOJ to Stand Pat With Ueda Back in Spotlight: Decision-Day GuideMeantime, oil edged higher in early Friday trading, with West Texas Intermediate crude around $84 a barrel.Traders have hesitated to make big bets as they weighed US and Iran exchanging air strikes Thursday against a recent pick-up in shipping through Hormuz.The market is also monitoring two attacks on ships attempting to load at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast, the main export route for Kazakh barrels. Last week, similar attacks led to days without shipments and helped push oil prices above $100 a barrel.Thursday’s rally in US chipmakers trimmed their July plunge to 21% — which is still set to be the biggest monthly slide since 2008.The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, known as the SOX, climbed 8.2%, ending a five-day run of declines. The Roundhill Memory ETF advanced 17%. Top semiconductor companies like Micron Technology Inc. and Nvidia Corp. climbed, with Sandisk Corp. jumping 26%.Meanwhile, solid US consumer spending and business investment signaled underlying strength even as growth moderated in the second quarter. Long-term bond yields kept rising a day after the Fed held rates steady this week despite high inflation.The 30-year bond’s yield — which rose 11 basis points to the highest level since 2007 after Wednesday’s Fed announcement — rose as much as four basis points before paring its increase to end the day near 5.21%. Shorter-maturity Treasury yields extended the declines sparked by the decision to delay rate hikes.“If inflation does not slow down, then there is risk of a further rise in the long-dated bond yields,” said Jens Peter Sorensen, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S. “The market is left guessing on how many hikes are needed and the hikes may come later than the market expects.”Corporate Highlights:Meta Platforms Inc. said it has already committed almost $700 billion in future spending, through long- and short-term agreements, related to AI data centers, cloud computing and more. Oracle Corp. said it would expand a partnership with Google Cloud to bring Gemini AI tools to its business customers. Qualcomm Inc. Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon said demand for smartphones remains strong, but the growing costs of making the devices are keeping the market down. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:20 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.5% S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 1.1% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.9% The euro was little changed at $1.1527 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 159.77 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7469 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7028 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin rose 0.2% to $64,856.7 Ether rose 0.2% to $1,924.25 CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $84.22 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,108.02 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
