09:01 UTC — Bitcoin holds near $64,000 as Microsoft's AI payoff lifts stocks

S&P 500 futures gained 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 contracts rose 0.4% after the index had slipped into a correction, with Microsoft ( MSFT ) up 8% in premarket after its cloud unit grew at the fastest pace in four years while it held the line on spending.

That is the read the market has wanted all month. Where Alphabet last week raised its spending forecast and unsettled investors, Microsoft ( MSFT ) showed the returns arriving without a bigger bill in a sign that AI capex is converting to growth.

Bitcoin has tracked that trade closely, moving with the chip and AI complex rather than on anything crypto-specific.