Wall Street Recovers Some Losses       07/30 09:36

   U.S. stocks are bouncing back Thursday after Microsoft leaped on its latest 
profit report and computer-chip companies clawed back some of their big recent 
losses.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are bouncing back Thursday after Microsoft 
leaped on its latest profit report and computer-chip companies clawed back some 
of their big recent losses.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and recovered more than half its drop from the prior 
day, which was its worst in seven weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 
up 250 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite, 
which is full of chip stocks and others in the artificial-intelligence 
business, jumped 1.8% a day after it fell 9.8% below its record set last month.

   Microsoft led the way and leaped 15.2% after reporting a stronger profit for 
the latest quarter than analysts expected. Growth was strong for its Azure 
cloud business, and CEO Satya Nadella said it reflects how customers are using 
Microsoft to move into AI.

   Perhaps just as importantly for Wall Street, Microsoft did not announce a 
big increase in how much it plans to spend on AI investments, something that 
several other Big Tech rivals have done. Worries are high that such spending is 
eating into companies' cash flows and may not be worth it if AI does not 
produce as much productivity and profits as promised.

   Meta Platforms helped demonstrate such fears after falling 8.9%. The parent 
company of Facebook and Instagram reported a weaker profit for the latest 
quarter than analysts expected, even though it made slightly more in revenue 
than expected.

   Some analysts pointed to how it raised the lower end of its forecasted range 
for spending on investments this year.

   Companies involved in the computer memory and processors that such 
"hyperscalers" are buying rose on Thursday, clawing back some of the big losses 
they've taken recently on worries that their stock prices shot too high in the 
euphoria around AI.

   Micron Technology jumped 8.4%, for example, to trim its loss for the week 
down to 13%. It was one of the strongest forces after Microsoft lifting the S&P 
500.

   Lam Research leaped 18.3%, and Advanced Micro Devices rallied 7.3%.

   Stocks broadly got some help after longer-term Treasury yields slowed their 
big accelerations from the day before. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased 
to 4.65% from 4.67% late Wednesday, while the 30-year Treasury yield held at 
5.20%, a day after it shot up from 5.09%.

   They had jumped Wednesday after the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin 
Warsh, gave few clues about what the central bank will do to combat the 
painfully high inflation that is still hurting the country.

   Higher yields can keep a lid on inflation, but they can also slow the 
economy and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

   Reports released Thursday suggested the U.S. economy's growth slowed by more 
during the spring than economists expected, while inflation remained worse last 
month than the Federal Reserve's target but not quite as bad as expected.

   In the oil market, prices slowed their big recent moves caused by increased 
fighting in the Middle East. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.5% 
to $86.79 per barrel. It's swung as low as $72 early this month and as high as 
$102 last week on uncertainty about whether the United States and Iran could 
reach a deal to allow oil tankers to move freely again from the Middle East to 
customers worldwide.