Asian shares retreat and crude prices soar $2 after Trump sanctions Russian oil giants
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to the cusp of their records on Thursday, as oil prices jumped after President Donald Trump announced “massive” new sanctions on Russia’s crude industry.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% and crept back within 0.2% of its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 144 points, or 0.3%, and finished just below its own record set earlier this week, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.9%.
Companies in the oil and gas business led the way, including gains of 1.1% for Exxon Mobil, 3.1% for ConocoPhillips and 3.4% for Diamondback Energy. They rose with prices for crude, which leaped roughly 5.5% after Trump announced sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
The hope is to convince Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to end the brutal war with Ukraine, and sanctions could constrict the global flow of oil. The jumps helped oil prices recover some of their sharp recent losses, taken because of expectations for supplies of crude in inventories to remain plentiful. Oil prices are still down more than 10% for the year so far.
Also helping to drive the stock market higher were strong profit reports from several big U.S. companies, as the reporting season ramps up for their profits during the summer. The majority are topping Wall Street’s forecasts, as is usually the case.
Dow jumped 12.9%, and Las Vegas Sands rallied 12.4% after both delivered stronger earnings than analysts expected. Tesla shook off an early loss to climb 2.3% after reporting a weaker profit but also stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
The pressure is on companies broadly to deliver solid growth in profits. That would counter criticism that their stock prices shot too high following a 35% romp for the S&P 500 from a low in April.
On the losing end of Wall Street, Molina Healthcare tumbled 17.5% after its profit for the latest quarter fell well short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Joseph Zubretsky cited a challenging environment for medical costs, and insurers across the industry have been warning about rising medical costs throughout the year.
IBM fell 0.9%, despite reporting better profit and revenue than analysts expected. Wall Street focused instead on weaker-than-expected results for its Red Hat business, which provides open-source software products.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 39.04 points to 6,738.44. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 144.20 to 46,734.61, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 201.40 to 22,941.80.
In the gold market, prices strengthened to halt a sharp recent slide. The price for an ounce climbed 2% to $4,145.60 per ounce.
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