NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - U.S. employment data and a batch of corporate results this coming week will keep equity investors on edge over the direction of the stock market, which has been buffeted by geopolitical tensions, uncertain interest-rate policy and sizable moves in heavyweight technology shares. The S&P 500 was on track for a slim weekly gain as...

(Updates with closing prices) By Kevin Buckland TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average jumped 4% on Friday, buoyed by an overnight rally on Wall Street after Microsoft ( MSFT ) issued forecasts that eased fears about the tech industry's massive AI infrastructure spending. The Nikkei ended 4% higher at 64,362.02 after surging 5.7% at one point. The...

July 31 (Reuters) - Amazon ( AMZN ) shares jumped more than 12% before the bell on Friday after the e-commerce and cloud giant posted its strongest cloud growth in over four years, bolstering investor confidence that its multibillion-dollar AI bets are driving a fresh wave of demand. The rally put Amazon ( AMZN ) on track to add about...

* Nikkei pares gains but still closes up 4% on Microsoft ( MSFT )-inspired chip rally * BOJ signals readiness to tighten policy further, flags risk of inflation overshoot * Yen's retreat comes after surge on Thursday following currency intervention (Updates with comments from BOJ news conference in paragraph 9, refreshes prices) By Kevin Buckland TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) -...