Strong corporate earnings from Microsoft. Software giant Microsoft reported record quarterly revenue above $50 billion for the first time, beating expectations, and offered a rosy outlook for the current quarter last Tuesday. That helped boost stock market futures for the next day, though the gains were given back by volatility driven by an announcement from the Fed The Dow Drops as Powell Talks — and What Else Is Happening in the Stock Market Today The market sank as Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the possibility of many more rate increases than the stock market had been expecting.