Oil prices volatile after ‘huge wave’ of US attacks

July 30, 2026 8:12 am, EDT
| Update: July 30, 2026 10:13 am, EDT

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks are surging again July 30 after Microsoft jumped in its latest profit report and computer chip companies recouped some of their recent big losses.

Crude oil prices remained volatile after the US said early on July 30 that it had launched a “massive wave” of strikes against Iran in response to an attack on a US base.

Prices slowed their recent big moves due to escalating fighting in the Middle East. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.5% to $86.79 a barrel. It hit a low of $72 earlier this month and a high of $102 last week amid uncertainty about whether the United States and Iran can reach a deal to allow oil tankers to again move freely from the Middle East to customers around the world.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and recovered more than half of the previous day’s decline, which was its worst in seven weeks. As of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 250 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite, which is loaded with chip stocks and others in the artificial intelligence business, jumped 1.8% a day after falling 9.8% from its record set last month.

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

WATCH: The US military launched a new wave of attacks inside Iran after the regime fired ballistic missiles at US troops a day earlier.

CENTCOM says it targeted dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military sites, including command centers, missiles and drones… pic.twitter.com/v2Eh6VfOLX

– Fox News (@FoxNews) 30 July 2026

Perhaps just as important for Wall Street, Microsoft did not announce a large increase in plans for spending on AI investments, which many other Big Tech rivals have done. Concerns are high that such spending is impacting companies’ cash flows and that it may not be worth it if AI does not generate as much productivity and profits as promised.

meta platform The 8.9% fall that followed helped reflect such fears. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported weaker-than-expected profit in the latest quarter, although it posted slightly higher revenue than expected.

Some analysts noted how it raised the lower end of their estimated range for investment spending this year.

Companies involved in the computer memory and processors that such “hyperscalers” are buying rose on July 30, recouping some of the big losses they have suffered recently due to concerns that their stock prices were pushed too high in the excitement over AI.

Micron Technology, for example, jumped 8.4% to cut its losses for the week to 13%. It was one of the strongest gains since Microsoft lifted the S&P 500.

Lam Research jumped 18.3% and Advanced Micro Devices added 7.3%.

Stocks broadly got some help after long-term Treasury yields slowed their big rally earlier in the day. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.65% from 4.67% late Wednesday, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury remained at 5.20%, a day after rising from 5.09%.

The jump came after Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Wersh on July 29 gave few hints about what the central bank would do to deal with the painfully high inflation still plaguing the country.

Higher yields can curb inflation, but they can also slow the economy and cut prices for stocks and other investments.

Reports released July 30 showed the U.S. economy’s growth slowed more than economists expected during the spring, while inflation remained worse than the Federal Reserve’s target last month, but not as bad as expected.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-Him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.