Big Tech's AI spending spree revived risk appetite — Nasdaq-100 futures led Wall Street higher into Friday's open after Amazon's blowout cloud quarter and a record 14% surge in South Korea's KOSPI reassured investors the AI capex boom isn't slowing.

Futures now

As reported by Yahoo Finance near 8:15 a.m. ET: S&P 500 futures +0.51% (~7,510), Dow futures +0.53% (~52,657) and Nasdaq-100 futures +1.22% (~28,583). The VIX slipped to about 16.8. The single biggest driver: mega-cap earnings landing better than feared, with the four hyperscalers now guiding to $720–745B of combined 2026 AI capital spending.

Pre-market movers

• Amazon +~12% — Q2 beat, with its AI/cloud chip business scaling toward a ~$25B run-rate (CNBC).
• Apple −7% — iPhone revenue jumped 22%, but Services and China came up short and guidance flagged memory/chip cost pressure (Yahoo Finance).
• Chevron — profit $12.1B; adjusted EPS $6.06, ~$0.50 ahead of estimates (CNBC).
• ExxonMobil −~2% — record $14.5B profit (~$160m/day), but adjusted EPS narrowly missed (CNN, CNBC).

Earnings today

Oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron reported pre-open windfalls on elevated crude. It's a heavy end-of-week slate — watch after-the-close reactions for guidance tone rather than headline beats.

Macro today

• Employment Cost Index (Q2, 8:30 a.m.): +0.9% q/q vs +1.1% expected and +1.2% prior; +3.4% y/y — cooler wage costs, a dovish signal for the Fed (BLS).
• MNI Chicago PMI (July, 9:45 a.m.): prior 56.7; a reading above 50 signals expansion (consensus n/a).
• UMich consumer sentiment (July final, 10:00 a.m.): watch the 1-year inflation expectation (prior +4.2%) after gas prices dented confidence.

This follows Thursday's cooler core PCE (+0.1% m/m, +3.3% y/y), the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

Rates, dollar & commodities

The US 10-year yield eased to 4.67% and the dollar index hovered near 100.1 (Trading Economics). WTI traded near $84.9 and Brent near $90.3 (CNBC), off this week's $93+ spike as Strait of Hormuz flows recovered. Gold slipped ~1% to about $4,118 (Yahoo Finance).

Overnight global context

South Korea's KOSPI rocketed 14% overnight, tripping trading halts, and Asian tech rallied broadly; European bourses opened firmer — a risk-on backdrop feeding US futures.

What to watch at the open

The tug-of-war is Amazon's AI-led strength against Apple's China/Services drag — and whether the Nasdaq can hold its lead if mega-cap breadth narrows. The 9:45 Chicago PMI and 10:00 Michigan inflation expectations could nudge rate-cut odds intraday, while the oil majors' reactions test whether the energy windfall is already priced in.

As of 9:20 a.m. ET, Jul 31, 2026. Sources: Yahoo Finance, CNBC, CNN, BLS, Trading Economics. Automated US market brief for discussion and education only — not investment advice. Verify before acting.