Asia Markets
US Equity Indexes Mixed Amid Anticipated Iran Peace Talks, Expected Hot Inflation
US equity indexes were mixed in Friday's midday trading as a fragile Iran truce looked set to hold until peace talks begin in Pakistan on Saturday, while a red-hot inflation read was in line with the outlook.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 22,887.1, while the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 6,814.3 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.6% to 47,881.5. Technology and materials were among the gainers, while consumer staples, health care, and financials led the decliners.A key aim of the Iran peace talks in Islamabad is to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran is "doing a very poor job" of letting crude oil pass and cautioned against collecting tolls in the strategic waterway, the report said.Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said talks cannot start until the US meets two conditions: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets.Vice President JD Vance, setting off for US-Iran talks in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, said Washington is "willing to extend the open hand" in this weekend's negotiations but warned Tehran not to "try to play us," The Wall Street Journal said.Ambassadors from Israel, Lebanon, and the US will hold talks in Washington, DC, on Friday to set the table for future negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, an Israeli official and a source familiar with the talks told CNN. The initial discussions will target an agreement on the agenda for direct negotiations, which Israel said would be aimed at disarming Hezbollah and establishing "peaceful relations" between the two countries.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures advanced 1% to $98.92, and Brent crude futures climbed 1.3% to $97.08.In economic news, US consumer inflation accelerated to its highest monthly reading in nearly four years in March as the Middle East conflict sent energy prices sharply higher.The consumer price index advanced 0.9% last month, its strongest pace of growth since June 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The latest print met a Bloomberg-polled consensus view. Prices rose 0.3% in February. Annually, inflation grew to 3.3% from February's 2.4% rise, falling short of Wall Street's 3.4% projection.Energy price growth jumped about 11% sequentially in March, led by a 21% surge in gasoline, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the headline increase, official data showed.US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 2.6 basis points to 4.32% and the two-year climbed 2.5 basis points to 3.81%."The fallout of the US/Israel-Iran war was evident in the March consumer price index," Oxford Economics Lead US Economist Bernard Yaros said in remarks emailed to.In company news, Barclays adjusted its price target for Fair Isaac's (FICO) shares to $1,950 from $2,400 while maintaining its overweight rating. The stock traded down 14% intraday, among the steepest decliners on the SP 500.In precious metals, gold futures fell 0.7% to $4,784.9 and silver futures slipped 0.3% to $76.22.
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