MARKETS ALL – Nasdaq jumps on tech power, oil dip amid signs of Middle East peace development

* Markets fluctuate between peace talks and corporate benefits

* S&P 500, Nasdaq poised for modest weekly gains; The Dow is set to comment in less than a week

* Oil dips as signs of progress in peace talks overshadow fears of long-term supply disruptions

* Dollar set for weekly gain (Mid-afternoon trading updates)

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) – The IS&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced on Friday as investors monitored the fragile U.S.-Iran deal and weighed firm corporate earnings against forward guidance due to war-related energy price shocks. Tech stocks, buoyed by strong results from Intel, helped propel the Nasdaq higher, while the S&P 500 was modestly green. The Dow was in the wrong place.

This week, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq appeared to be entering small gains, while the blue-chip Dow is poised to register a decline from last Friday’s close. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq continued to hover near record highs.

“Intel just confirmed that the AI ​​boom is alive and well, and this earnings season is off to a good start,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson Group in Omaha.

Peace talks between the United States and Iran may resume soon in Pakistan, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was due to arrive on Friday night, according to Pakistani sources. Additionally, the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement was extended by three weeks following a high-level meeting at the White House, according to US President Donald Trump.

“There is hope that negotiations will resume soon,” Detrick added. “With the extreme weakness we’ve seen in defense stocks over the past two weeks, the market may be saying there may be some kind of peace deal on the horizon, which is obviously correct.”

Oil prices fell on hopes of US-Iran peace talks easing supply concerns.

US crude fell 1.51% to settle at $94.40 per barrel, while Brent settled at $105.33 per barrel, down 0.25% on the day.

FIRM COMPANY FINANCES MANAGED BY THE DOUR SYSTEM

The first quarter reporting season is in full swing, as 139 companies in the S&P 500 have reported. Of those, 81% hit earnings estimates. Analysts now see year-over-year earnings growing 16.1%, up from the 14.4% growth expected at the start of the quarter, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. But in analyst conference calls, CEOs are increasingly providing guidance for lower fuel costs as a result of the Iran war. Consumer products company Procter & Gamble warned in its Friday earnings call that it expects a roughly $1 billion hit to its fiscal 2027 profit due to a war-related energy price shock. Next week, there are plenty of high-profile earnings on the docket, including tech megacaps and tech-adjacent Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta Platform. Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron are expected to report next Friday.

“There are some big names to be announced next week,” said Detrick. “We are hopeful that we will continue to see strong earnings, just as we have so far this earnings season.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 120.07 points, or 0.24%, to 49,190.25, the S&P 500 was up 50.33 points, or 0.71%, to 7,158.80 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 374.35 points, or 0.1%, to 7,158.80.

European stocks closed lower, sinking to more than two-week lows and logging fell 2.5% weekly as investors worried about disruptions to energy supplies due to conflict in the Middle East. MSCI’s index of global shares rose 4.80 points, or 0.45%, to 1,072.11. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by 0.58%, while the broader European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 12.54 points, or 0.51%. Emerging market shares rose 12.65 points, or 0.79%, to 1,611.96. MSCI’s broad index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed up 0.82%, to 825.80, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 575.95 points, or 0.97%, to 59,716.18.

The dollar eased but remained on pace to gain for the week as uncertainty over the war kept investors on edge. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was down 0.3% at 98.53, while the euro was up 0.29% at $1.1718. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar fell 0.2% to 159.39. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell by 0.43% to $77,588.59. Ethereum fell 0.34% to $2,318.56. Benchmark US Treasury yields are centered on hopes that US-Iran peace talks will take place over the weekend, bolstering confidence that the war is nearing an end. The yield on US 10-year notes fell 0.9 basis points to 4.314%, from 4.323% late on Thursday. The 30-year bond yield rose 0.4 basis points to 4.9224% from 4.918% late Thursday. The yield on the 2-year note, which usually moves in line with the Federal Reserve’s expected interest rate, fell 4.7 basis points to 3.778%, from 3.825% late Thursday.

Gold advanced but remained on track for its first weekly loss in five weeks as worries about war-related inflation persisted. Local gold rose 0.58% to $4,719.31 an ounce. US gold futures rose 0.36% to $4,722.20 an ounce.

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