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US Stocks Edge Higher on Falling Oil 06/24 09:42
Stocks edged higher on Wall Street Wednesday as falling bond yields and
lower oil prices helped ease pressure on the market.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks edged higher on Wall Street Wednesday as falling
bond yields and lower oil prices helped ease pressure on the market.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100 points, or
0.2%, as of 10:03 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.
Technology stocks were mixed after two days of losses that heavily weighed
on the broader market. That also helped ease pressure on the broader market,
allowing the broad gains throughout the S&P 500 to push the index higher.
Nvidia fell 0.1% following a 4.1% dip on Tuesday. Micron Technology, which
reports its latest financial results later Wednesday, fell 0.4% following its
13.2% plunge on Tuesday.
Google's parent company Alphabet rose 1% after it was announced that it
would replace Verizon in the Dow on Monday. Alphabet will become the fifth
Magnificent 7 company to join the index. The other companies are Apple, Amazon,
Microsoft and Nvidia.
Big Tech companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence
technology, have pricey values that give them more sway over the market's
broader direction. That was the case on Tuesday when sharp losses for a few
valuable tech companies pulled the market lower.
Oil prices continued slipping as the U.S. and Iran negotiate a possible end
to their war. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 4% to $73.72 a
barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the
approximately $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war
began. U.S. crude prices fell 4.4% to $69.96 a barrel.
Treasury yields mostly fell, removing more pressure from stocks. The yield
on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41% from 4.50% late Tuesday. The yield on the
2-year Treasury fell to 4.15% from 4.16%.
Gold prices fell 2.6%, and at one point slipped below $4,000 an ounce.
Prices were above $5,000 an ounce earlier in the year. The precious metal is
often a barometer of the appetite for risk among investors, with more buying at
times of increased anxiety and more selling as anxiety eases.
Markets were mixed in Europe and Asia.
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