NASDAQ:EGHT 20 May 2026

ASX 200 futures advanced 0.86% to 9,012.5 before Friday's session, positioning the July gain close to 3.03%. This follows a 0.78% decline on Thursday, where tech stocks rose 0.91%, while materials sank 1.59% and financials eased 0.37%. Wall Street finished sharply higher, led by a more than 15% jump in Microsoft, with U.S. tech shares up 5.2% and semiconductors gaining 8.2%, contributing to upbeat sentiment for Australian equities.

The S&P 500 advanced +1.66%, Dow Jones added +1.19%, and Nasdaq 100 jumped +3.36%, buoyed by Microsoft's +15% surge after Q4 Azure revenue exceeded forecasts with +43% growth. Robust earnings propelled semiconductor and AI infrastructure shares higher. Meta Platforms slid -7% on disappointing guidance. Treasury yields climbed, with the 10-year T-note yield reaching 4.67%. US data was mixed, showing slower Q2 GDP at +1.5% and a drop in core PCE inflation to +3.3%.

JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) shares climbed 6.2% to $6.07 after reporting a 14.5% revenue gain in Q2, with fare increases of 8.6% and passenger traffic up 5.1%. Fuel expenses jumped 80.7%, leading to a deeper net loss of $247 million. The stock is valued at roughly 6.1 times estimated 2028 earnings, while significant debt (net debt 2.8 times its market capitalization) and an average fuel price of $4.23/gal-above the $3/gal target-continue to weigh on the outlook.