01:49 PM EDT, 07/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with latest market prices and developments.)

US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday, supported by the technology's sector's advance as Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares surged, while traders parsed fresh inflation data.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 2.6% at 25,074.4 after midday Thursday, while the S&P 500 rose 1.5% to 7,424.6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.1% to 52,145.7. Among sectors, tech saw the steepest rise with a gain of 5.1%, while communication services led the laggards.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) was up nearly 17%, the top gainer on the Dow and among the best performers on the S&P 500. Its quarterly results released late Wednesday topped estimates driven by a revenue surge in cloud computing platform Azure.

Chip-related stocks were sharply higher, with Sandisk ( SNDK ) surging 25%, the top performer on the Dow. Micron Technology ( MU ) , Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) , and Intel ( INTC ) , also advanced.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) followed Microsoft ( MSFT ) on the Dow, up 4.9%. The e-commerce giant and Apple ( AAPL ) are scheduled to release their latest quarterly results after markets close Thursday.

Meta Platforms' ( META ) shares slumped 9.2% intraday as the technology giant provided a soft third-quarter revenue outlook following an unexpected year-over-year decline in quarterly earnings. It raised the lower end of its capital expenditure guidance.

"Microsoft ( MSFT ) shows clearer (artificial intelligence) revenue through Azure and Copilot, while Meta still depends mainly on advertising," Saxo Bank said in a report.

In economic news, the US personal consumption expenditure price index fell 0.1% month over month in June, marking the first decline since April 2020, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. That helped cut the year-over-year rate to 3.7% from 4.1%.

"While lower gasoline prices provided a boost to households' purchasing power in June, that support may prove temporary as energy prices have moved higher amid renewed US-Iran tensions," TD Economics said in a report.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.6% at $83.96 a barrel intraday, while Brent fell 1.2% to $89.67. Both benchmarks are on track for hefty gains this month, following two consecutive monthly declines.

The US carried out fresh strikes against Iran on Wednesday in response to Tehran's attempted missile attacks on US forces in the Middle East a day earlier, the US Central Command said.

"Elevated energy prices are also clouding the inflation outlook for the (Federal Reserve), keeping upside inflation risks alive, with core PCE inflation having run above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years," TD Economics said. "While the Fed remained on the sidelines this week, financial markets continue to price a rate hike by year-end."

The Federal Open Market Committee held the policy rate steady on Wednesday, in a divided decision that included three officials calling for a hike.

Treasury yields were mixed intraday, with the 10-year rate up 3.9 basis points at 4.66%, while the two-year rate fell 1.3 basis points to 4.22%.

In other economic news, US real gross domestic product increased at a 1.5% annualized rate in the quarter ended June, according to an advance government estimate released Thursday. The consensus was for 2% growth in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,101.62 per troy ounce, while silver advanced 1.5% to $58.94 per ounce.