The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) today is up +0.86%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) is up +0.29%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is up +2.65%. September E-mini S&P futures (ESU26) are up +0.84%, and September E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQU26) are up +2.69%.
Stock indexes are rallying sharply today after strong growth at Microsoft reassured investors that massive spending on artificial intelligence is starting to pay off. Microsoft is up more than +13% after reporting late Wednesday that Q4 Azure and other cloud services revenue ex-forex rose +43%, better than the consensus of +39.3% and the fastest quarterly growth in four years. Microsoft's positive earnings are also fueling a sharp rally in chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks, pushing the overall market even higher. The markets will get another look at megacap earnings when Amazon.com and Apple report after today’s close.
