New York (AFP) – Wall Street stocks rose sharply over the week and oil prices fell as a fragile truce was struck between the United States and Iran, with ceasefire talks due to start in Islamabad on Saturday. For the week, all three major US indices advanced by more than three percent. Oil prices retreated once again on Friday, tumbling by approximately 13 percent over the week.
The New York Stock Exchange closed mixed for the day on Friday — the Dow Jones shed 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq gained 0.4 percent, and the broader S&P 500 index was flat, slipping 0.1 percent. “Markets are trading on a cautious tone ahead of the US-Iran ceasefire talks,” Elias Haddad of Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) said in a note. “For financial markets, the key issue is whether peak shipping security fear is now behind us.”
Official sources say the talks in Islamabad will cover Iran’s nuclear enrichment and the free flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the ceasefire took effect, US President Donald Trump has voiced displeasure at Iran’s handling of the strategic strait, which was meant to be reopened. “The key issue for the oil market is whether ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will resume,” Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank said in a note. “So far, there are no signs of this happening.”
Inflation in the United States rose sharply in March, government data showed on Friday, as higher energy prices due to the war hit Americans hard. Prices rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier. White House spokesperson Kush Desai responded by saying the US economy “remains on a solid trajectory.”
In Europe, London and Frankfurt closed virtually flat as Paris added 0.2 percent.
– Key figures at around 2015 GMT –
New York – Dow Jones: DOWN 0.6 percent at 47,916.57 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 6,816.89 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 22,902.90 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 10,603.48 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,245.80 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,806.99 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 55,895.32 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,752.40 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,966.17 (close)
burs-bgs/acb
© 2024 AFP
