Stocks rose to fresh highs on Thursday following solid earnings reports from tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Traders also looked ahead to a key trade deadline.
"Magnificent Seven" titans Microsoft and Meta respectively rose 6% and 11.5% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Software giant Microsoft said that annual revenue from its cloud computing service Azure exceeded $75 billion. Meta issued an upbeat third-quarter sales outlook, surpassing the Street's estimates. Microsoft's strong earnings print propelled the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization.
Fellow Mag-7 names Apple and Amazon are slated to report earnings after the bell Thursday.
"If you have been on the right side of this market, there have been incredible opportunities and tech and everywhere it spreads its tentacles," said Ken Mahoney, president of Mahoney Asset Management. "We still cannot begin to understand if you are a growth manager why you would look anywhere else in this market."
Adding to the bullish sentiment, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said negotiations with China are at a point where both sides " have the makings of a deal." Bessent did not give any details on a potential deal, however, nor did he indicate when such an agreement could be made. The U.S. and China have until Aug. 12 before the truce over aggressive tariffs runs out.
His comments come ahead of a key Aug. 1 trade deadline.
To be sure, President Donald Trump poured some cold water on the market when he announced that a 25% duty on Mexican imports would be extended for another 90 days.
Thursday marks the last day of what has been a strong month on Wall Street. The S&P 500 has gained more than 3% in July, while the Nasdaq is up about 5%. The 30-stock Dow has climbed 1%.
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