Meta description: Asian shares rose for the first time in three days and US futures advanced as the chip-led selloff showed signs of easing. Here's what shifted after a brutal Wednesday for global markets.
After a Wednesday that saw the Dow post its worst decline since April 2025 and the Nasdaq 100 enter a technical correction, global markets finally caught a break overnight. Asian shares rose for the first time in three days, and US equity-index futures advanced as the chip-led selloff that's dominated headlines for over a week showed genuine signs of easing.
A pause after a punishing stretch
The rebound follows one of the roughest multi-day runs for semiconductor stocks this year. As covered across several of our recent posts, chip stocks have been sliding on concerns ranging from "circular financing" fears around AI infrastructure deals to competitive pressure from cheaper Chinese AI models, culminating in Wednesday's Nasdaq 100 correction. A three-day losing streak breaking, even modestly, offered markets their first real signal that the selling pressure might be losing steam.
Bonds tell a more complicated story
Not every signal points toward calm. While Asian equities advanced, longer-dated Treasuries fell on continued uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's policy outlook — a reminder that Wednesday's spike in 30-year yields to their highest level since 2007 (covered in our earlier post) hasn't been fully resolved just because stocks bounced. Equity and bond markets are effectively telling two different stories right now: stocks cautiously optimistic, bonds still pricing meaningful uncertainty around where rates head next.
Fed Chair Warsh's comments continue to reverberate
Markets are also still digesting Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's remarks from Wednesday's press conference, where he noted that markets can be "a good source of information but not a determinative or perfect source." That comment — delivered as 30-year yields were actively spiking during his own press conference — has been widely read as Warsh signaling he won't necessarily let bond market pressure dictate the Fed's next move, even as investors continue searching for clues about the path forward into September.
A megacap earnings scorecard shaping sentiment
This week's wave of Big Tech earnings has added another layer to the overnight mood. As covered in our companion posts, Meta fell as much as 8% after hours despite record revenue, dragged down by a 91% collapse in free cash flow, while Microsoft surged 9% on Azure's fastest growth in four years. That split scorecard — one AI spender rewarded, one punished, within the same 24 hours — has left investors parsing company-specific execution far more carefully than broad sector-wide bets, a dynamic likely to continue shaping how markets react to Apple's results today.
What's different about today versus Wednesday
The key shift overnight appears to be a genuine reduction in chip-sector panic selling, rather than any major new catalyst. With no dramatic new negative headlines specific to semiconductors, and Microsoft's strong cloud results offering a counterexample to the "AI spending doesn't pay off" narrative that's dominated recent weeks, some of the most extreme pessimism priced into chip stocks appears to be unwinding, at least for now.
What to watch today
- Whether the rebound extends into US trading once markets open, or fades as Wednesday's yield concerns resurface
- Apple's earnings report (covered in our companion preview post), landing at a moment when markets are unusually sensitive to any disappointment
- Amazon's results later this week, the next major data point in the ongoing AI-capex debate
- Whether 30-year Treasury yields stabilize or continue climbing despite the equity market's improved mood
Bottom line
Asian markets snapping their three-day losing streak offers a welcome, if fragile, sign that the worst of this week's chip-sector panic may be easing. But with bond yields still elevated and today's Apple earnings looming as the next major test, it's far too early to call this rebound a durable turning point rather than a brief pause within a still-volatile stretch for global markets.
This post is based on reporting from Bloomberg as of July 30, 2026. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
