S&P 500 Closes Up 1.66% as Microsoft Gains 15.51% and Semiconductors Rebound 8.19%
S&P 500 close: 7,437.63 (+1.66%) Breadth: 5 of 11 sectors higher; equal-weight S&P 500 (RSP) -0.16% Sentiment: mixed
The S&P 500 closed at 7,437.63 on 30 July 2026, up 121.48 points or 1.66%, on a technology-led advance headed by Microsoft MSFT.US +15.51% after Azure revenue grew 43% year over year and passed $100 billion for fiscal 2026. Meta META.US fell 7.95% on diluted EPS of $6.18 against a $7.22 consensus and 2026 capital spending guidance lifted to a range of $135 billion to $145 billion. The equal-weight S&P 500 fell 0.16% in the same session, a gap of 1.82 points to the cap-weighted index, so the day's gain sat in a narrow set of large technology names.
What moved the index
- Technology (XLK +5.50%) contributed roughly 187 bps of the 166 bps index move on an approximate 34% weight, more than the entire day's gain. Microsoft MSFT.US +15.51% was the single largest name. Memory and semiconductor equipment accounted for the rest: Sandisk SNDK.US +25.99%, Micron MU.US +18.36%, Lam Research LRCX.US +17.98% on its own fourth-quarter beat, Western Digital WDC.US +15.37%, Applied Materials AMAT.US +14.97%.
- Communication Services (XLC -2.68%) took back roughly 27 bps on an approximate 10% weight. Meta META.US -7.95% was nearly all of it, after free cash flow fell to $784 million from $8.5 billion a year earlier.
- Defensives cost roughly 29 bps combined: Consumer Staples XLP -2.16%, Health Care XLV -1.64%, Real Estate XLRE -1.44%, on an approximate 16% weight. Altria MO.US -9.32% and Eli Lilly LLY.US -4.55% led the drag.
- Cyclicals added roughly 25 bps between them. Industrials XLI +0.98%, Consumer Discretionary XLY +0.70%, Financials XLF +0.56% and Energy XLE +0.53% span about a third of the index and moved it by a quarter of a percent.
These four account for roughly 155 bps of the 166 bps move. The residual sits within the margin on approximate sector weights.
Session highlights
- SOX.INDX closed at 11,302.99, up 8.19%, after five consecutive losing sessions took it from 12,343.84 on 23 July to 10,447.49 on 29 July, a decline of 15.4%.
- MU.US +18.36% to $874.66 and SNDK.US +25.99% to $1,279.96 recovered part of a steeper slide. Micron closed at $959.48 on 22 July and $739.00 on 29 July. Samsung warned of tightening memory supply, which reset pricing expectations across DRAM and NAND.
- VIX fell 17.28% to 17.09, reversing Wednesday's 13.45% rise to 20.66.
- NVDA.US +2.65% to $195.04 trailed SOX.INDX by 5.54 percentage points on the day.
- AAPL.US -1.41% and GOOGL.US -0.91% both closed lower while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.78% to 25,122.18.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Technology (XLK) +5.50%
- Worst: Communication Services (XLC) -2.68%
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 8.18 percentage points
- 5 of 11 sectors advanced. Excluding technology, the range ran from Industrials (XLI) +0.98% to Consumer Staples (XLP) -2.16%, a spread of 3.14 percentage points across the other ten sectors.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| KXIAY.US | +32.11% | Kioxia ADR repriced to the US session NAND rally |
| FRVO.US | +30.56% | Rebound off $17.08 after a 38.8% slide since 22 July |
| IREN.US | +30.54% | Situational Awareness fund liquidated its AI infrastructure book |
| MKTX.US | +29.45% | ICE agreed to acquire it at $167 per share in cash |
| CIFR.US | +28.10% | Short covering from the same fund liquidation as IREN.US |
| ALNY.US | -28.31% | FY26 TTR revenue guidance cut to $4.2 billion to $4.5 billion |
| SONO.US | -17.64% | Q3 beat, Q4 revenue guided to $325 million to $355 million on memory costs |
| RTO.US | -17.60% | Slower North America growth in Q2 |
| CHRW.US | -15.44% | Q2 EPS $1.61 beat estimates, analyst price targets cut |
| LRN.US | -14.98% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. Reports 4 August |
After-hours earnings
Amazon AMZN.US reported second-quarter net sales of $200.6 billion, up 20% and its first quarter above $200 billion. AWS revenue reached $42.2 billion, growing 37% year over year against roughly 31% expected and its fastest rate since 2021. Operating income rose 43% to $27.5 billion, AWS operating margin reached 39.4%, and Andy Jassy lifted 2026 capital spending guidance to $220 billion from $200 billion. The stock traded higher after the bell.
Apple AAPL.US reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16%, and diluted EPS of $2.02, up 29%, including an $0.11 benefit from tariff refunds. Gross margin was 50.1%. Services set an all-time record, and iPhone, Mac and Services each set June-quarter records. Tim Cook hosted his final quarterly call as chief executive.
Notable announcements
- ICE agreed to acquire MarketAxess MKTX.US at $167 per share in cash, an equity value of about $6 billion and a 33% premium to Tuesday's close. Tradeweb TW.US closed -9.60%.
- Initial jobless claims printed 197,000 against 200,000 expected.
- June PCE inflation came in at 3.7% and core PCE at 3.3%, both matching consensus.
- The FOMC held the federal funds target range at 3.50% to 3.75% on 29 July with three members voting to raise. The Dow fell 1,153.18 points that session and recovered 613.92 of them today.
- The dollar index closed at 100.01, down 0.78%, and the US 10-year yield rose about 4 basis points to 4.663%.
Next session catalysts (ET)
- Fri 31 Jul: first full session to price the AAPL.US and AMZN.US reports, at month end
- Fri 31 Jul: Samsung memory supply commentary remains the input for MU.US, SNDK.US and WDC.US pricing
- Tue 4 Aug 17:00: Stride LRN.US fiscal fourth-quarter results and call
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