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Financial Markets 04/16 09:32
NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is holding near its record high
Thursday as Wall Street waits for more clues about what will happen in the Iran
war before making its next big move.
The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1%, a day after topping its prior all-time high
set in January for its 10th gain in 11 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 66 points, or 0.1% after the first half-hour of trading, and the
Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.
Stocks have leaped more than 10% since hitting a low in late March, driven
by hopes for an end to the war or something that could avert a worst-case
scenario for the global economy. Now, the wait is on to see if such hopes were
prescient or just wishful thinking.
Pakistan's army chief is set to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran
Thursday in a bid to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second
round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven
weeks of war.
Oil prices climbed, showing that caution still remains in financial markets.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose
3.1% to $97.83. It's gone from roughly $70 before the war to as high as $119 at
times on uncertainty about how long the war will keep oil stuck in the Persian
Gulf area and away from customers.
"The key upside risk for the market is that peace talks between the US and
Iran break down," ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote
Thursday. "This isn't an unrealistic scenario, given that US and Iranian
demands remain fairly wide apart."
In the meantime, big U.S. companies are continuing to deliver growth in
profits for the start of 2026 that's even better than analysts expected. Such
growth is the lifeblood of the stock market, whose level tends to follow the
track of corporate profits over the long term.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services rose 5.7%, and Marsh & McLennan climbed 3.4%
after both delivered stronger results than expected.
PepsiCo likewise reported better results than expected and rose 2.1%.
Customers bought more snacks during the quarter, after the company said in
February it would cut prices on Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos chips to
win back people frustrated by high prices.
Technology stocks also broadly got some support after Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co., an industry heavyweight, reported stronger revenue and
profit for the start of 2026 than analysts expected. TSMC's Chief Financial
Officer Wendell Huang said the company expects strong demand to continue into
the spring.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Abbott, which fell 4.4% even though it
reported slightly better results than analysts expected. The health care
company cut its forecast for profit over the full year, mostly because of its
purchase of cancer-screening company Exact Sciences.
Allbirds slumped 28.7%, but that gave back only a portion of its 582% surge
from the day before. The company formerly known for sneakers is pivoting to the
artificial-intelligence industry and hopes to rent out the use of high-powered
AI chips as a service.
In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed across much of Europe and Asia.
Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4%, South Korea's Kospi rallied 2.2% and Hong
Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.7% for some of the world's larger moves.
China on Thursday reported 5% economic growth for the January-March quarter,
an acceleration from the previous quarter. While economists say China has
largely shrugged off the initial impacts of the Iran war, some are warning its
massive export engine could be hit more significantly in the coming months on
slower global economic growth.
In the bond market Treasury yields eased a bit after a report showed fewer
U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.28% from 4.29% late
Wednesday.
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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
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