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Futures up: Dow 0.34%, S&P 500 0.95%, Nasdaq 1.29%

July 31 (Reuters) - Futures tied to the S&P 500 and

Nasdaq surged to record highs on Thursday after strong earnings

from tech giants Meta and Microsoft ( MSFT ) reinforced investor

confidence that artificial intelligence investments are paying

off.

Meta Platforms ( META ) soared 11.5% in premarket trading

after the social media giant forecast third-quarter revenue well

above estimates, thanks to AI boosting its core advertising

business.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) issued a record capital spending outlook

of $30 billion for the current quarter and reported

higher-than-expected sales in its Azure cloud computing

business. The stock surged 8.3%.

Other tech heavyweights such as Amazon ( AMZN ) and Nvidia ( NVDA )

also climbed 3.2% and 1.6%, respectively, while

Microsoft ( MSFT ) was on track to hit a $4 trillion market

capitalization for the first time.

At 05:53 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 151 points, or

0.34%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 302.5 points, or

1.29%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 60.5 points, or

0.95%.

The Wall Street indexes are also set for monthly gains amid

easing trade tensions and renewed enthusiasm around AI.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow

ended lower as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell diluted

investor expectations for an interest rate cut in September

after the central bank kept rates unchanged, as widely expected.

Powell said it was too early to predict a September rate

cut, adding that current policy is not restricting the economy.

The statement came after stronger-than-expected GDP data for the

second quarter.

Data on Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) - the Fed's

preferred inflation gauge - for June is due to be released at

08:30 a.m. ET. Traders see a 56.8% chance for a September rate

cut, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Investors also braced for Friday's non-farm payrolls data

and tariff deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has

vowed to not grant any extension to trading partners that fail

to secure a deal.

EU officials said European liquor could face 15% tariffs

from August 1 until a different agreement is reached, with talks

set to continue in the fall.

Trump announced a trade deal with South Korea on Wednesday,

setting an import tariff of 15% for the Asian country, down from

a threatened 25%.

However, caution prevailed after he threatened to impose a

25% tariff on India, even as the two nations remain at the

negotiating table.

In other stocks, Applied Digital ( APLD ) soared 26% after

the data center operator surpassed estimates for quarterly

revenue, thanks to AI-driven demand for its cloud

infrastructure.

(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)