US Stocks Rise in Wild July Finale, Amazon Surges
The US stock market ended July on a positive note after a wild ride. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.7% to finish the month with a tiny loss. Amazon led the gains, surging 15.3% after reporting stronger-than-expected profits for the latest quarter.
The e-commerce giant's profit more than tripled from a year earlier, thanks in part to growth in its cloud computing business. This boost has analysts speculating that Amazon's investments in artificial intelligence technology may be paying off.
Chipmakers such as Micron Technology saw their stocks swing sharply on Friday. While some initially rose due to strong demand for processors and computer memory, others plummeted after a supply crunch led to decreased revenue forecasts.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 276 points, or 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1% despite briefly losing all of its early gains.