NEW YORK (AP) — Lower oil prices are helping to propel the U.S. stock market to the finish of a record-setting week, but financial markets remain indecisive. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% early Friday and clawed back some of its two straight days of losses since setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 82 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6%. The moves were tentative as oil prices continue to yo-yo because of uncertainty about
when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal. Treasury yields flipped up and down in the bond market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.
U.S. futures are climbing and as oil prices retreated from their recent gains after President Donald Trump said “productive discussions” are happening with Iran.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.4% on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.7%.
Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that his team has been “having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” He also indicated that he will not order a resumption of military strikes on Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections in the United States.
Brent crude oil declined 1.2% on Friday to $103.01 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 0.9% to $90.69 a barrel.
The drop in oil prices comes after stocks felt pressure on Thursday from a 4.1% rise in the price for a barrel of Brent, the international standard, to more than $104. It’s been pinballing between $96 and nearly $110 over the last month on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
In the bond market, yields have been trading at their highest levels in years or even decades, threatening to slow the economy.
The 10-year Treasury yield initially rose to 5.35% on Thursday before falling back to 5.23%. It edged up slightly to 5.25% on Friday.
The yield's fluctuations came after the U.S. government said that it sold $22 billion in 30-year Treasury bonds at an auction with a high yield of less than 5.62%. That helped bring the 30-year Treasury yield down to 5.60% from 5.73% on Thursday, which is a notable move for the bond market. It was at 5.62% on Friday.
High debt loads have loomed over the market as the U.S. federal deficit climbed to nearly $2 trillion in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30.
Investors are also continuing to keep an eye on the latest earnings reports. On Friday shares of Delta Air Lines dropped more than 4% before the market open after the airline reported a quarterly profit that missed estimates. Delta also trimmed its full-year estimate for earnings per share, citing a $6 billion increase in fuel costs.
Several of the country’s biggest banks release quarterly results next week.
Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to deliver overall growth of nearly 30% in earnings per share from a year earlier, according to data provider FactSet. If they’re correct, it would be the third consecutive quarter of growth that exceeds 25%.
In Europe, the German DAX climbed 1% to 25,044.82, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.6% to 7,775.44. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.9% to 10,538.88. Asian markets were mixed. Markets were closed in South Korea and Taiwan.
China is due to release its latest economic growth figures next week.
In other dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.29 Japanese yen from 157.89 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1210, edging lower from $1.1211.
