New York (AFP) – Stocks pushed higher Friday while oil prices also rose as traders tracked headlines on Iran war peace talks, against a backdrop of corporate earnings optimism and AI enthusiasm that have pushed indexes to record highs. Wall Street moved broadly higher, with the Dow Jones index finishing at a second straight all-time high, despite concerns that soaring energy prices will stoke inflation and lead to tightening monetary policy.
Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller added his voice to a growing bloc of policymakers calling for the US central bank to indicate that its next move could be an interest rate hike. Fears about inflation sent the yield on the 30-year Treasury earlier this week to its highest level since 2007, with long-term debt yields in Britain and Japan hitting rates not seen since last century. But stocks have been reassured as bond yields have retreated in recent days.
Equity investors are giving the benefit of the doubt to negotiators seeking to end the nearly three-month Middle East war. Markets believe “even though things sound dicey surrounding the Iran situation, that the two sides are talking and that they’ll ultimately get to a peace deal,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. Mediator Pakistan’s powerful army chief arrived in Tehran on Friday, as the Islamic republic examined a new US proposal to end the war. But an Iranian spokesman cautioned that the visit did not necessarily mean “we have reached a turning point or a decisive situation.”
European markets also posted gains after Asia closed out the week with a rally, with sentiment boosted by AI chip giant Nvidia’s latest earnings report that blew past analyst forecasts. Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said the negotiations on Iran appeared to be constructive. “We need things to at least be in a phase in the process that leads to progress towards an opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an off ramp to the war with Iran,” Hogan said.
In Europe, German business morale unexpectedly increased in May, a survey showed Friday, raising hopes that Europe’s biggest economy is weathering the Iran war energy shock better than feared. The Ifo institute’s confidence barometer rose to 84.9 points from 84.5 in April, the first time it has gone up since the start of the Mideast conflict, and confounding analyst expectations for a slight decrease. But US consumer confidence data released by the University of Michigan pointed to historic weakness, with sentiment at its lowest level since data collection began in 1952.
“The cost of living continues to be a first-order concern, with 57 percent of consumers spontaneously mentioning that high prices were eroding their personal finances, up from 50 percent last month,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the survey. Financial markets will be closed on Monday in London and the United States for holidays, while continental Europe markets will be open.
– Key figures at around 2015 GMT –
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $103.54 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $96.60 a barrel
New York – DOW: UP 0.6 percent at 50,579.70 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 7,473.47 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.2 percent at 26,343.97 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,466.26 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 8,115.75 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 1.2 percent at 24,888.56 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.7 percent at 63,339.07 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 25,606.03 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 4,112.90 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.1608 from $1.1619 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3441 from $1.3431
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.13 from 158.98 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.36 from 86.49 pence
burs-jmb/des
© 2024 AFP
