NEW YORK, July 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday as a surge in U.S. Treasury yields and mixed post-earnings performance of technology heavyweights failed to dampen market sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53 percent to 52,485.03. The S&P 500 added 0.7 percent to 7,489.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 1 percent to 25,373.85.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the red, with materials and utilities leading the laggards by losing 2.71 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer discretionary and communication services led the gainers by rising 6.07 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.
Bond market pressure mounted as investors sold 10-year U.S. Treasuries, sending the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.75 percent, its highest level since January 2025. The yield spike reflected the market's ongoing adjustment following the Federal Reserve's decision earlier in the week to maintain interest rates alongside a lack of clear forward policy guidance.
The session witnessed significant divergence across mega-cap technology equities following Thursday's post-close earnings disclosures. Amazon jumped 15.32 percent after the e-commerce and cloud provider posted quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations, supported by an expansion in its custom chip design operations. Conversely, Apple shares fell 7.35 percent after the consumer electronics maker reported revenue from its services division and key Asian markets that fell short of analyst estimates.
The latest quarterly reports confirmed that major hyperscalers, namely Amazon, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet, continue to aggressively expand their AI investment, forecasting cumulative capital expenditures of 720 billion to 745 billion U.S. dollars in 2026.
Global oil prices moved higher on Friday as commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz experienced renewed disruptions following an escalation in regional hostilities. West Texas Intermediate for September delivery added 1.08 dollars, or 1.29 percent, to settle at 84.67 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Concurrently, Brent crude for September delivery gained 1.09 dollars, or 1.22 percent, to settle at 90.12 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Major oil producers reported substantial second-quarter earnings windfalls driven by elevated crude prices amid ongoing military tensions between the United States and Iran. However, shares of ExxonMobil dropped almost 1 percent after scheduled facility maintenance costs squeezed profit margins, causing its bottom-line results to miss expectations.
While higher energy and retail fuel prices continue to strain household budgets, consumer confidence showed signs of resilience. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index continued its upward momentum in July, even as the war with Iran appeared to widen and gas prices once again climbed past 4 dollars a gallon.
For the month of July, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index fell approximately 7 percent, recording its sharpest monthly decline since March 2025. The monthly pullback was driven by lingering geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, energy market volatility, hawkish monetary policy signals from the Federal Reserve, and a sharp correction in semiconductor valuations.
