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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered Friday as oil prices slipped for the first time in a week, but Wall Street is still heading for a losing week
The S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The index is on track for its second consecutive losing week, which hasn’t happened since March
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq fell 0.5%., weighed down by sharp losses from several big stocks. Both indexes are also on track for weekly losses
Micron Technology fell 6% and Broadcom fell 2.3%. Both companies have large market values that tend to weigh more heavily on the market. They were big reasons for the technology-heavy Nasdaq losing more ground and for the broader market being kept in check despite more gainers than losers within the S&P 500
Wall Street is closing out a week of increasing pressure from a sharp escalation in the U.S. war with Iran. Heavy fighting in the Middle East again threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.5% to $97.19. It has generally been rising all week and moved back above $100 on Thursday before easing a bit. Before the Iran war began in late February it was trading around $72 per barrel
Bond yields also eased and relieved some of the pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.67% from 4.71% late Thursday
Markets in Europe gained ground, while Asian markets closed lower
The U.S. is also ramping up its global trade war with a fresh round of tariffs on dozens of nations. The new round of tariffs impacts nearly all U.S. imports and they are paid by companies importing those goods, who then typically pass the added costs along to consumers. That move came just as the clock was running out Friday on stopgap levies the president imposed after a stinging defeat for other tariffs at the Supreme Court
Rising energy prices and fresh tariffs could result in hotter inflation, which has been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy
The Fed meets later this month and has been closely monitoring prices and their impact. Rising inflation dashed hopes earlier this year for an interest rate cut. Wall Street has since leaned more toward a potential rate increase, which the central bank can use to help cool inflation
Wall Street is anticipating one rate hike by the end of the year, with a nearly 36% chance that could happen at the upcoming meeting next week
Higher energy costs threaten to take a bigger chunk out of household budgets, which means a shift in spending toward more basic needs, like gasoline. Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs $4.10 per gallon That’s still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but it’s almost a dollar higher than last year at this time
Investors are worried about the impact to companies profits. Those profits and expectations for more growth are what typically justifies a stock’s value. The latest round of corporate earnings showed that companies are still notching growth, but concerns are growing
American Express fell 6% despite reporting a jump in profit during its most recent quarter. Amex maintained its profit forecast for the year and has been spending more heavily to keep wealthy individuals amid more competition
Worries about the sustainability of broader profits are on top of lingering concerns about AI-focused tech companies. Companies like Alphabet and Nvidia have been spending heavily on AI technology. Investors are increasingly questioning whether those investments will produce profits to justify the large stock values that have been steering the broader market higher throughout the year
AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report
