This content was published on

July 31, 2025 – 05:12

(Bloomberg) — US equity-index futures climbed as strong earnings from megacap tech firms bolstered optimism that corporate profits remain resilient. The dollar gave up some of its gains made after the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates.

Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3% and those for the S&P 500 advanced 0.9% as Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. surged in after-hours trading. The yen held its gains against the dollar as the Bank of Japan kept its interest rates unchanged, as forecast. Asian shares fell 0.1%. South Korean equities fluctuated after the country reached a trade deal with the US.

Copper rose in London — following a collapse in New York — after US President Donald Trump shocked the metals world by exempting the most widely traded forms of copper from his hotly anticipated import tariffs.

Investors navigated a barrage of headlines Wednesday, from trade tensions and central bank decisions to a wave of corporate earnings. Treasuries declined and the dollar gained Wednesday as markets dialed back bets on a September rate cut. Significant trade developments in India, South Korea and Canada also drew attention ahead of the Aug. 1 tariff deadline. Adding to the mix, megacap tech firms delivered stellar earnings.

“While expectations of a rate cut have eased following yesterday’s Fed meeting, strong earnings and outlook from Nasdaq heavyweights Meta and Microsoft reinforce confidence in the AI-driven growth narrative,” said Gary Tan, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments in Singapore. The robust performance “continues to justify high tech hardware spending.”

Microsoft shares gained more than 8% in after-hours trading while Meta jumped more than 11%.

The biggest takeaway was that the massive levels of capital expenditures are starting to get monetized, said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group in Melbourne. Asian technology stocks mostly advanced.

“We are starting to see signs that that bet is gonna pay off and pay off pretty handsomely,” he said.

A gauge of the dollar fell 0.1% Thursday. The currency had strengthened as Fed Chair Jerome Powell said no decision had been made about easing policy in September. The US labor market “looks solid,” Powell said, while inflation remains above target. Treasuries rose across the curve Thursday after slumping in the prior session.

“To get that rate cut, the Fed will need to gain confidence that either inflation increases will be one-off and muted, or that inflation will continue to trend lower in the months and quarters ahead,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro.

In Japan, the yen held its gain after the BOJ kept its benchmark rate unchanged while boosting its inflation outlook. The BOJ kept the overnight call rate at 0.5% at the end of a two-day policy meeting in a unanimous vote, according to a statement Thursday. All 56 surveyed economists forecast the decision.

Shares in the country rose 0.9% before the announcement.

On South Korea, Trump said he reached a trade deal that would impose a 15% tariff on its exports to the US and see Seoul agree to $350 billion in US investments.

Trump also said he would impose a 25% tariff on India’s exports to the US starting Friday and threatened an additional penalty over the country’s energy purchases from Russia. India’s faltering equities market faces the risk of more losses.

On copper, the industrial metal rose as much as 1.2% on the London Metal Exchange, before paring some gains.

When the US president first flagged the likelihood of tariffs early this year, he triggered a surge in US copper prices relative to the rest of the world and set off a race to ship copper to the US to beat the tariffs.

Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-2 on Wednesday to hold the benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5%, as they have at each of their meetings this year. Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman voted against the decision in favor of a quarter-point cut.

Money markets pared bets on rate reductions this year and traders now see a less than 50% chance of a cut in September. The odds for a reduction in October dropped to around 85%, whereas they were fully priced-in before Powell began to speak.

“The next two months’ data will be pivotal and we see a path to a resumption of the Fed’s easing cycle in the autumn should tariff inflation prove more modest than expected or the labor market show signs of weakness,” said Ashish Shah at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Corporate News:

Samsung Electronics Co.’s semiconductor division reported profit that fell far short of expectations, reflecting a deepening crisis at the world’s largest memory chipmaker. Chinese battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. posted a 34% rise in profit for the second-quarter, with its outlook further buoyed by a blockbuster share sale in Hong Kong that will fund its global expansion. Meta Platforms is taking advantage of its lucrative advertising business and stepping up spending next year, with executives saying now is the time to seize on investment opportunities in artificial intelligence. Microsoft said it will spend more than $30 billion in the current quarter to build out the data centers powering its artificial intelligence services. Chinese e-commerce platform operators fell after the US suspended tariff exemptions for low-value shipments. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.9% as of 12:11 p.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 0.7% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1427 The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 148.77 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 7.1988 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $118,423.87 Ether rose 2.4% to $3,860.8 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.35% Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 1.560% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.27% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed Spot gold rose 0.6% to $3,295.77 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Richard Henderson, Winnie Hsu and Matthew Burgess.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.