Software stocks were leading the charge for the broader market on Friday, rebounding after a slew of solid earnings reports eased fears about AI disrupting the sector.

The moves came ahead of the July nonfarm payrolls report, which could decide whether the Federal Reserve ends up hiking, holding, or even cutting interest rates later this year.

Akamai Technologies was the S&P 500's top performer ahead of the opening bell, surging 15% after the software and cloud technology company beat analysts' second-quarter earnings target.

Atlassian was another winner, rallying 32% after the collaborative software developer posted better-than-expected results for the fiscal fourth quarter and issued solid guidance.

Cloudflare surged 16% after the cloud platform raised its full-year outlook after reporting double-digit revenue growth for the second quarter.

JFrog rose 19% and Twilio advanced 17% after both software companies also reported better-than-expected results.

DoubleVerify jumped 14% to $13.32 after Nielsen said it had agreed to buy the digital advertising data provider for $13.60 a share, or $2.1 billion in cash.

Airbnb rose 7% after the vacation rental site beat second-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year outlook, citing accelerating bookings and strong travel demand.