Amazon Soars as Oil Prices Keep Rising, Inflation Worries Persist

The US stock market finished July on a high note after a volatile month of ups and downs. The S&P 500 index rose by 0.7% on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 276 points or 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite rallied 1% after briefly losing its early gain.

The market's gains were led by Amazon, which jumped 15.3% after reporting a much stronger-than-expected profit for the latest quarter. The company's cloud computing business saw an acceleration of growth, and analysts believe this could be a sign that Amazon's massive investments in artificial-intelligence technology are paying off.

However, Apple fell 7.4% despite reporting higher profits than expected. The company's revenue forecast for the current quarter fell short of analyst estimates, which executives attributed to supply chain issues caused by the AI boom.

The price of oil continued to rise, with Brent crude settling at $87.93 per barrel after careening between $72 and $102 earlier in July. Higher oil prices have pushed gasoline costs up to an average of nearly $4.11 across the US, putting upward pressure on prices for virtually every product that relies on transportation.