Stocks Close Higher on Amazon Earnings Boost; Nasdaq Gains 1%

Amazon joins Microsoft with a 15% rally

U.S. stocks closed higher on August 1 as Amazon's strong earnings helped revive appetite for technology shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 276.97 points, or 0.53%, to 52,485.03 at the close on the New York Stock Exchange.

The S&P 500 added 52.09 points, or 0.70%, to 7,489.72. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 251.68 points, or 1.0%, to 25,373.85.

Amazon surged 15.32% after posting a blowout earnings report following the previous session's close. The company said quarterly revenue topped $200 billion for the first time, driven by growth in its cloud business.

Microsoft, which reported results a day earlier, said quarterly revenue in its cloud business rose 43% from a year earlier, the fastest growth rate since early 2022. Its shares had jumped 15.51% the previous day and rose another 3.02% on August 1.

Apple tumbled 7.35%, capping the market's gains. In its earnings report a day earlier, the company projected only limited revenue growth in the July-September period because of supply constraints, triggering heavy selling.

SK Hynix's American depositary receipts, which had soared 17.5% a day earlier, fell 3.54%.

Oil prices rose. The move appeared to be driven by reports that Iran struck two tankers attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, claimed it had attacked the two tankers as they transited the waterway under U.S. military escort.

Brent crude for September settlement rose 1.22% to close at $90.12 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. West Texas Intermediate for September delivery climbed 1.29% to settle at $84.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter 2su@hankyung.com