U.S. stock futures rose sharply on the spur of technology giant's earnings reports.

U.S. stock futures rose significantly on Thursday, driven mainly by strong earnings reports from Microsoft(MSFT) and Meta Platforms(Facebook parent company, META). Nasdaq futures rose 1.2%, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively. Investors are focusing on upcoming personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation data, which is expected to show prices rising in June.

PCE inflation data will reveal an upward trend in prices.

The personal consumption expenditure index is expected to show a 2.5% year-on-year increase in prices in June, up from 2.3% in May. The increase is in line with the upward trend in the consumer price index (CPI) announced earlier this month. The core PCE inflation rate, which is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, is expected to remain at 2.7%. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged, fearing that tariffs could push up prices.

Meta Platforms advertising revenue drove shares soaring.

Meta Platforms shares surged nearly 12% in pre-market trading, and second-quarter earnings exceeded analyst expectations. The company's earnings per share reached $7.14, revenue increased 22% from the same period a year earlier to $47.52 billion, and advertising revenue increased 21%. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he will continue to actively invest to attract AI talents.

Microsoft cloud business drives growth.

Microsoft shares rose more than 8% in pre-market trading as strong growth in the company's smart cloud division pushed its fiscal fourth-quarter results past analyst expectations. Microsoft's earnings per share were $3.65, and revenue increased 18%. Revenue in the smart cloud division increased by 26%, both exceeding expectations.

Investors are focused on sales growth from Apple and Amazon.

Following strong performances from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, investors are looking forward to earnings reports from Apple(AAPL) and Amazon(AMZN) after the close of trading today. Analysts expect Apple's sales to increase 4% year-on-year to US$89.54 billion, with EPS rising slightly;Amazon's quarterly revenue is expected to increase 10% to US$162.19 billion, and EPS is also expected to rise.

Global market reactions and geopolitical implications.

Asian stock markets mostly fell, with Samsung Electronics shares falling back on a sharp decline in profits. China's market fell as manufacturing activity data fell short of expectations. On the geopolitical front, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on India and imposed "punitive" tariffs on his military deals with Russia, a news that attracted market attention.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9 - 2 to keep interest rates unchanged, the first time since 1993 that multiple directors voted against them. Chairman Powell said the Fed still needs to observe the impact of tariffs on inflation.

Investors actively borrowed money to buy stocks.

Jim Reid, head of macro and thematic research at Deutsche Bank, pointed out that this phenomenon shows excessive market optimism, a similar situation that occurred during market bubbles.

Taiwanese technology companies enter the AI data center market.

Hon Hai Technology Group announced that it will invest in Dongyuan Electric and plans to enter the artificial intelligence data center market. According to Counterpoint Research's forecasts, companies may spend $1 trillion on data centers in the next few years. This move shows the active deployment of Taiwanese companies in the global technology industry.