U.S. Stocks Rise as Oil Prices and Treasury Yields Pull Back From Multi-Year Highs

Major U.S. stock markets rose on Friday and are headed for a winning week, as Investopedia reports, after oil prices and Treasury yields fell from their highest levels in years.

Shortly before the closing bell, the Dow Jones index was up 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 up 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq up 0.4 percent. Entering Friday, the S&P 500 was showing a 0.7 percent gain for the week, the Nasdaq 1.6 percent, while the Dow was down 0.6 percent for the week.

On Thursday, the Dow closed lower for a third consecutive session, while the 10-year Treasury yield touched its highest level in 19 years. The S&P 500 closed slightly lower, while the Nasdaq ended slightly higher.

On Friday, the 10-year yield dropped below 5.17 percent, about 4 basis points below Thursday’s close. Although it has risen about 17 basis points this week, on Thursday it hit its highest intraday level since 2007.

Oil pulled back after Reuters reported that the United States and Iran have discussed a deal that could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude fell 2.6 percent to $92.20 a barrel, while Brent dropped 2.4 percent to $104 a barrel.

Investors also received positive signals from the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, which came in slightly higher than previously reported.

In company moves, Akamai Technologies shares rose 4.5 percent after Anthropic committed to pay at least $11.6 billion over seven years for cloud infrastructure and software, with the possibility of a $9 billion expansion. Microsoft gained 4 percent, while Meta fell 3.5 percent after rising 4.5 percent on Thursday and approaching its all-time high, following new artificial intelligence products presented at the Connect conference.