The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) today is up +1.12%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) is up +0.64%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is up +2.69%. September E-mini S&P futures (ESU26) are up +1.09%, and September E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQU26) are up +2.61%.
Stock indexes are climbing today as strong growth at Microsoft has reassured investors that massive spending on artificial intelligence is starting to pay off. Microsoft is up more than +15% 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. The markets will get another look at megacap earnings when Amazon.com and Apple report after today’s close.