* Indexes: Dow up 0.19%, S&P 500 off 0.02%, Nasdaq dips
0.06%
* Amazon ( AMZN ) jumps as AWS growth soothes fears over rising AI
spending
* Apple ( AAPL ) slides as supply snags cloud outlook
* Yields jump as three Fed dissenters say rate hike is
needed
(Updates to midday trading)
By Johann M Cherian and Ragini Mathur
July 31 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes traded
between small gains and losses on Friday, as uncertainty over
the path for interest rates and a slide in Apple's ( AAPL ) shares offset
a 13.7% jump in Amazon ( AMZN ).
Amazon.com ( AMZN ) reported its biggest revenue growth in
over four years for the previous quarter, joining similar
reports from Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Alphabet earlier
this month, prompting investors to look past the companies' big
spending plans that rattled markets through this month.
Apple ( AAPL ), on the other hand, slid 9.2% after warning
that supply constraints would hurt growth, adding to worries
about the hit from iPhone price hikes.
This week was what some analysts called 'make-or-break' for
the tech sector that had been beaten down as traders took some
profits through July following a strong end to the second
quarter, as they awaited signs that investments made by AI
leaders at the expense of free cash flow were paying off.
"The whole argument here was, are these investments going to
be accretive and when will that show? And it seems like it's
beginning to show immediately," said Chris Ballard, managing
director at Check Capital Management, while speaking about
Alphabet and Amazon ( AMZN ).
"We're very happy to see that and it justifies further
investment into what they're doing."
Shares of Microsoft ( MSFT ) were up 1.5% after logging theirbiggest
one-day gain on record for a company in the previous session,
while Alphabet jumped 5% and Meta gained 1.5%. Among
chip stocks, Nvidia ( NVDA ) climbed 0.8% and Monolithic Power
Systems ( MPWR ) gained 11.1% after forecasting third-quarter
revenue above estimates.
At 11:43 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 99.24 points, or 0.19%, to 52,306.20, the S&P 500
lost 1.49 points, or 0.02%, to 7,436.14 and the Nasdaq Composite
lost 15.65 points, or 0.06%, to 25,106.53.
The S&P 500's consumer discretionary sector led
the gains, up 5%, helped by Amazon's ( AMZN ) surge, while tech
lost over 1.6%.
TOUGH MONTH FOR STOCKS
All three of Wall Street's main indexes are on track for
weekly gains, aided by the strong rebound late this week. But
the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for monthly losses,
reflecting the sharp selloff AI-linked stocks witnessed through
July.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index was flat on
Friday and is down 20% in July, which would mark its biggest
monthly fall since 2008. Investors instead took notice of other
sectors, as the S&P 500 equally weighted index is on
track for its fourth straight month of gains.
"This momentum crash was tremendous and the positioning has
been rinsed," said Laurent Clavel, global head of multi-asset at
AXA Investment Managers, BNP Paribas Asset Management.
"Going into August, if anything, we are going back into it
slowly. We're buying this weakness and we're re-buying this AI
narrative," Clavel said.
The week also brought uncertainty in terms of interest rates
after the Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate on hold.
Chairman Kevin Warsh's commentary offered little on the outlook
for interest rates; however, at least three officials voiced the
need to hike interest rates on Friday.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, a
reflection of short-term interest rates, spiked 7 basis points
to 4.29%, while investors priced in a 67% chance that rates
could rise by at least 25 basis points in September, CME's
FedWatch tool showed.
Domain registrar GoDaddy ( GDDY ) lost 20% after narrowing
its annual revenue forecast.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.58-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and three new
lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 35 new highs and 86
new lows.