Microsoft Stock Rises Amid Broad Market Rally

Microsoft stock rose on Friday as part of a broader market rally that saw large-cap technology stocks perform well.

The tech sector led the gains, with Microsoft gaining about 0.4% and the Nasdaq rising 1.23% and the S&P 500 climbing 1.11%.

Microsoft is planning a major expansion of its global data center network in response to strong AI and cloud demand, which has put pressure on its available computing capacity.

The company aims to increase data center capacity to more than 38 gigawatts by 2032 from about 12 gigawatts currently, although a Microsoft spokesperson said the reported capacity projections were inaccurate and did not provide alternative figures.