Stocks are opening mostly higher on Wall Street, but more declines for big tech stocks are weighing on the market. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent in early trading Friday. The index is still on track for a weekly loss, and is a bit below the all-time high it set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 291 points, or 0.6 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4 per cent. Chip companies were lower. Micron Technology fell 3 per cent and Intel lost 2 per cent. European markets were higher and Asian markets rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.13 per cent.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back for updates. AP’s earlier story follows below.
U.S. futures are mostly higher as Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh touts the benefits of artificial intelligence, a sector that has been hammered this week by concerns over the rising costs of borrowing money.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent on Friday, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4 per cent. Nasdaq futures dipped 0.1 per cent.
Warsh said Friday at the IMF and World Bank gathering in Bangkok that AI could have a positive impact on the global economy.
“I’d say the advent of this new technology is probably the most consequential change to the U.S. and the global economy in my lifetime,” Warsh said. “There really is, I think, a huge benefit to the global economy, the U.S. economy, over the horizon.”
AI and chip stocks were choppy before the market opened Friday. Nvidia was flat after closing down 1.8 per cent on Thursday, and shares are down more than five per cent this week. Broadcom’s stock declined 0.7 per cent before the market open, while those for Advanced Micro Devices fell 1.8 per cent.
Shares of Tesla climbed more than three per cent after the electric vehicle maker unveiled its Roadster sports car that will go into production in two years. Netflix’s stock fell more than three per cent after the company announced that Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria will be replaced by Peter Rice. The news comes just days after Netflix said that it plans to lay off about six per cent of its workforce, amounting to nearly 1,000 positions.
Oil prices are still elevated as the global oil supply remains under pressure without a deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the Iran war.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.3 per cent to US$106.27 per barrel. That is still high compared with around US$72 a barrel in late February before the start of the war. Brent climbed into triple digits last month, the first time since July.
Benchmark U.S. crude edged 0.2 per cent lower to US$97.77 per barrel.
The national average for gasoline is at US$4.33 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. While that’s lower than the US$4.37 a gallon that it averaged last month, it’s sharply higher than the US$3.06 a gallon from a year ago.
Oil remains well-supported as uncertainties surrounding the situation in the Middle East and concerns over oil flows in the Strait of Hormuz had the market “pricing in a significant risk premium,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a commentary Friday.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 declined slightly to 10,837.99. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.4 per cent to 7,966.11, while Germany’s DAX rose 1 per cent to 25,645.64. Asian markets were higher.
The U.S. dollar rose to 158.02 Japanese yen from 158 yen. The euro was trading at US$1.1256, up from US$1.1220.
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Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman, The Associated Press
