Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on July 30, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Nasdaq futures edged higher in overnight trading Thursday after Wall Street staged a sharp rebound. Upbeat earnings from Amazon added to optimism.
Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.4%. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded flat, while S&P 500 futures inched up 0.1%
In extended trading, Amazon surged more than 9% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter revenue. The results, which were aided by the strength of its cloud-computing business, reinforced investor confidence in artificial intelligence spending.
Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenue topped expectations, helped by a 22% jump in iPhone sales. However, a shortfall in service revenue led to a 3% decline in its stock.
The after-hours moves followed a powerful rally during Thursday’s regular session, led by Microsoft, which jumped 16% after the software giant posted stronger-than-expected Azure cloud growth. The results sparked a broad advance across AI-linked chipmakers, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) climbing more than 8%.
The recovery came after a bruising session on Wednesday, when the Dow plunged more than 1,100 points, its worst one-day decline since April 2025. Selling accelerated late in the session after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, fueling concerns that policymakers were falling behind in the fight against inflation.
Those worries rippled through the Treasury market. The 30-year Treasury yield climbed 6 basis points Wednesday to above 5.2%, hovering near its highest level since 2007.
“Investors are recalibrating expectations for Fed rate cuts, reducing the excess liquidity that has fueled speculative, momentum-driven markets,” Richard Bernstein, global head of macro and customized investing at Janus Henderson Investors, said. “Market leadership is expanding beyond the ‘Magnificent 7’ as investors increasingly reward improving fundamentals rather than hype-driven momentum.”
Despite the week’s sharp swings, the major averages remained on track to finish higher. The Dow was up about 0.5% for the week heading into Friday’s session, while the S&P 500 had gained roughly 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead about 0.6%.
Stocks making moves after hours
Here are a number of stocks making big moves in extended trading:
Coinbase — Shares of the crypto exchange slid more than 5% after posting its third straight quarterly loss.
Rivian Automotive — The electric vehicle maker’s shares rose nearly 2% after the firm reduced its 2026 spending plans and slightly narrowed its previously forecasted losses this year.
Reddit — The social media platform’s shares sank over 7% in after-hours trading, as investors grew concerned about the company’s search-referral traffic from Google.
First Solar — Shares of First Solar rose more than 3% after the company reported second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations, even as revenue was roughly in line with estimates.
— Yun Li
Individual investors stay uncharacteristically bearish for a 25th week
Main Street investors polled by the American Association of Individual Investors remained uncharacteristically gloomy for a 25th straight week.
The number of mom-and-pop investors who described themselves as bearish about the outlook for stocks over the coming six months dipped to 42.1% in the week ended Wednesday, down from 42.3% last week and against an historical average of 31.0%, the AAII said. The last time fewer than 31.0% of individual investors said they were pessimistic was in early February, before the start of the war with Iran later that month.
Bullish investors rose to 31.0% from 29.6% last week, the second week in a row that the percentage of optimists was below the historical average of 37.5%.
Neutral investors fell to 26.9% from 28.1%. The percentage of investors who are agnostic on stocks has been below the historical average of 31.5% every week since mid-January 2025, shortly before the start of President Trump’s second term.
— Scott Schnipper
Strong crack spreads send four refining stocks to all-time highs Thursday
The Iran war has been great for America’s publicly-traded oil refineries.
Crack spreads — the gross profit margin an oil refinery makes by turning a barrel of crude into gasoline and other products — are strong and four refining stocks closed at all-time highs on Thursday: PBF Energy, Delek US Holdings, Par Pacific Holdings and HF Sinclair.
Three other refiners, the largest in the group — Valero Energy, Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 — are close to the all-time highs they reached just last week.
PBF, up 170% in 2026, reported blowout second-quarter earnings excluding one-time items of $6.22 per share premarket Thursday. Analysts had estimated $4.15 per share, according to FactSet data. Revenue of $11.7 billion also beat the $9.6 billion Street consensus.
— Scott Schnipper
