Afternoon Report | Microsoft’s best day in 18 years
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Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Friday, the 31st of July, 2026. I'm Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today that you need to know about. Let's get straight into story number one.
How did the ASX perform in July and which sectors led gains today?
The local share market finished just slightly higher today, up 0.1% to 8,977 points. But of course, it is the last day of the month. So we can look back at the full month of July and across that period, the S&P ASX 200 has actually gained 2.3%. That is the second best month so far this year. Mining stocks led the gains today. A lot of optimism now around artificial intelligence, fueling demand then for copper producers. You had BHP up 2%, Rio Tinto adding more than 1%. The tech stocks were mixed. Next DC jumped more than 4% while WiseTech Global fell sharply. Healthcare was the weakest sector. CSL was down almost 4%, while Woodside Energy finished slightly higher today, despite another fall in oil prices.
On to story number two, and I mentioned the optimism around AI. Well, Wall Street has surged after Microsoft delivered blockbuster earnings, easing investor concerns that the tech giant's massive spending on artificial intelligence isn't paying off. Microsoft shares... soared 15.5% overnight. That is their biggest one-day gain in almost 18 years after the company beat profit forecasts and reported strong growth in its Azure cloud business. The S&P 500 climbed 1.7%. NASDAQ jumped almost 3% after a sharp sell-off the previous day. Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said that demand for artificial intelligence services continues to accelerate. Associated Press reported that investors were also relieved Microsoft didn't announce another major increase in AI spending, unlike some of its biggest rivals that we've heard from over the last week.
On to story number three, in a bit of local corporate news, Fortescue shares slipped after the miner revealed it will take a $525 million US dollar impairment on its Iron Bridge magnetite project ahead of next month's full year results. Slater & Gordon, the law firm, has launched a class action against Web Travel Group, alleging that the company misled investors about future earnings margins and breached its continuous disclosure obligations. And Origin Energy says new and increased demand from data center customers has helped drive growth in its business electricity volumes, leading to higher sales across its customer base. Story number four, Victorian teachers are preparing to walk off the job for a third time after their union voted to escalate its campaign for higher pay and better working conditions.
Feels like we've been talking about this for a while now, and I imagine for parents who are dealing with these strikes, would feel like quite a while. The Australian Education Union says members will stage a statewide 24-hour strike on August 19, unless the Victorian government makes an improved offer. The union says negotiations have dragged on for more than a year. With teachers, principals, education support staff continuing to feel overworked and undervalued, last week members narrowly rejected an offer worth 28.3% over four years despite improvements to working conditions. The union says it is willing to negotiate but wants the government to return to the bargaining table with a revised proposal.
Just have a feeling that the Victorian government might have had a few things on its plate this week. Finally, story number five, Hamas has agreed to surrender its weapons and hand responsibility for governing Gaza to a US-based committee in what President Donald Trump has described as a monumental step towards peace. Trump announced the agreement on truth social, saying it would deliver the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza through a phased process and A senior Hamas negotiator later confirmed the agreement, although officials say many details still need to be finalized, including the timetable for disarmament and for Israel's withdrawal from parts of Gaza.
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