(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)

US equity indexes rose amid a bounce in semiconductors as investors anchored to Microsoft's (MSFT) quarterly results showing AI monetization.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.5% to 25,046.3, the S&P 500 was up 1.2% to 7,405.4, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7% to 51,932.8 after midday Thursday. Technology was the standout gainer, up 4.8%, while communication services led the decliners.

The Microsoft intelligent cloud segment's revenue increased 32% to $39.31 billion, buoyed by 43% growth in Azure and other cloud services, according to the company. Analysts expected a 40% year-over-year advance in Azure sales.

"This year, Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time, and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats, reflecting the confidence customers are placing in us to power their (artificial intelligence) transformation," Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. Shares of Microsoft soared 16%, one of the top gainers on the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), with net assets of $77.2 billion, soared 7%, as chipmakers are major beneficiaries of AI-related spend.

In economic news, the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index fell 0.1% in June, as expected, cutting the year-over-year rate to 3.7% from 4.1%. The price index rose by 0.5% month-over-month in May. The core PCE price index climbed 0.1% in June, below the 0.2% gain expected and following a 0.3% growth in May. The year-over-year rate dropped to 3.3% from 3.4%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Late Wednesday, the US Central Command forces completed a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iran in response to Tuesday's attempted missile attacks on US forces, according to a CENTCOM statement. "The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries."

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted US bases in Kuwait and Jordan following Washington's strikes on Iran, Al Jazeera, a Middle East broadcaster, reported, citing the IRGC.

The front-month US West Texas Intermediate was down 0.7% at $83.83 a barrel, while global benchmark North Sea Brent slipped 0.7% to $90.14 a barrel.