AI chip stocks surge 9% as tech giants fuel semiconductor rally

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[1] AI concept stocks surge driven by tech giants' earnings and capital expenditure plans (https://wallstreetcn.com/livenews/3142542 ...)[2] Intel Stock Is Up 124% This Year and AMD Is Up 100%: Is the NASDAQ Correction a... (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/arti ...)[3] Dear AMD Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for August 4 (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/arti ...)[4] What a Major Anthropic Chip Deal Really Means for AMD Stock (https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/artic ...)[5] Semiconductor Crossroads: Healthy Consolidation or Deeper Repricing? (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/arti ...)

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Jul 30 2026, 15:49

S&P 500 rebounds 1.2% from Fed selloff as rate-hike doubts grow

**US stocks bounced back Thursday, erasing the prior session's losses, as traders questioned whether Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will follow through on raising interest rates after the central bank's July meeting.** The S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 5,847, recovering all of the ground lost Wednesday when the index dropped 1.8% after the Fed held rates steady but opened the door to a September hike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9% to 42,136, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6% to 18,924, led by a rebound in megacap technology shares. "The market is pricing in a hike, but the data doesn't demand one — and traders are betting Warsh blinks," said Michael Gapen, chief US economist at Morgan Stanley. "The labor market is cooling, and the disinflation trend, while slow, remains intact." Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished in positive territory. Information Technology led the rally with a 2.1% gain, followed by Communication Services at 1.8% and Consumer Discretionary at 1.5%. Energy was the worst performer, sliding 0.7% as crude prices retreated, while Utilities edged down 0.2%. The Cboe Volatility Index fell 1.8 points to 18.3, retreating from the 21 handle touched during Wednesday's selloff. **The Fed decision that triggered the selloff** Wednesday's Federal Reserve statement held the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, as widely expected, but the accompanying dot plot showed a median projection for one quarter-point hike by year-end. Markets had previously priced no further tightening. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said in a LinkedIn post that business leaders have been asking the central bank "to take action to curb inflation," adding that price pressures are "broad based." Traders responded by pricing a 72% probability of a hike at the September meeting, according to Bloomberg data, with a second move fully priced by March 2027. The two-year Treasury yield surged 12 basis points Wednesday to 4.58%, before settling back to 4.49% on Thursday as the equity rebound took hold. **Oil slides despite Middle East tensions** Brent crude fell 1.4% to $97.80 a barrel Thursday, retreating from the $100 threshold breached last week, even as geopolitical risks in the Middle East showed no signs of abating. The Houthis attacked two Saudi Arabian vessels in the Red Sea last week, and Iran's deputy foreign minister said Thursday that Tehran has "never requested negotiations with the US," damping hopes for a diplomatic resolution. The divergence between rising geopolitical risk and falling oil prices suggests traders are increasingly focused on demand concerns. The US dollar index edged down 0.2% to 104.1, providing additional support for risk assets, while gold rebounded 1.5% to $2,385 an ounce after a brutal selloff earlier in the week. The rebound sets up a critical test for the S&P 500, which now sits just 2% below its all-time high. With Big Tech earnings from Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Amazon now in the rearview mirror, and the Fed's September meeting looming, the next catalyst for direction may come from August's consumer price index report, due Aug. 13. *This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.*

Jul 30 2026, 15:37

German inflation jumps to 2.8%, strengthening ECB case for September hike

Germany's inflation rate jumped to 2.8% in July from 2.4% in June, the highest in three months, as the expiration of fuel tax relief and elevated oil prices pushed energy costs up 8.3% year-on-year. "Renewed disruption of energy supplies could increase energy prices further and for longer than expected," ECB President Christine Lagarde said at the July 23 press conference, warning that sustained energy cost increases risk feeding into broader inflation through indirect and second-round effects. Spain's inflation also accelerated, reaching 3.8% in July, above economists' forecasts. The two reports precede Friday's release of French, Italian, and aggregate eurozone data, which economists expect to show headline inflation holding at 2.8% or edging up to 2.9%. The euro traded near $1.08 while German 10-year bund yields rose 4 basis points to 2.45% on the data. The ECB held its main rate at 2.25% in July after delivering a quarter-point increase in June — its first hike since 2023. Derivatives markets now price roughly an 80% probability of another 25-basis-point increase at the Sept. 24 meeting, according to CNBC. The question for policymakers is whether higher energy costs will prove transitory or embed themselves in wage demands and services prices. Slovakia's central bank chief Peter Kazimir said the ECB needs at least one more rate increase even if Middle East tensions ease, to prevent inflation expectations from becoming de-anchored. Lithuania's Gediminas Simkus said the likelihood of a hike is "far higher" than holding steady. Their comments align with Lagarde's warning that the ECB now expects inflation to remain "well above target" through the first half of 2027. ## Energy Costs Drive the Reacceleration Germany's energy price index rose 8.3% year-on-year in July, the fastest pace since April, after the government allowed fuel tax relief to expire. The increase compounds upward pressure from Brent crude, which traded above $98 a barrel this week after briefly topping $100 on renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities. European natural gas prices also climbed to their highest since March. The transmission of energy costs to core inflation remains the key uncertainty. Eurozone core inflation eased to 2.4% in June from 2.5%, and economists at Goldman Sachs said they found "no convincing signs of second-round effects" in the data so far. Services inflation moderated, and broader underlying measures softened, weakening the case that price pressures are broadening. ## Market Pricing and Forward Path Traders are betting the ECB will follow through on its hawkish signals. Overnight-indexed swaps imply a quarter-point increase in September, with the probability rising after the German and Spanish prints. ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski said Lagarde struck a "distinctly more restrictive tone" at the July meeting, adding that "the question is what could stop the ECB from hiking in September, rather than what would move the ECB to hike." Germany's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, with first-quarter data also revised higher, giving the ECB additional room to tighten without triggering a recession. The resilience provides cover for policymakers who argue that the economy can absorb higher rates. The last time the ECB raised rates after a single-meeting pause was in 2023, when it delivered back-to-back increases before holding steady for over a year. A September hike would mirror that pattern, signaling that the central bank views the current energy shock as persistent enough to warrant further action. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.