US Stocks Hang Near Record Highs       05/07 09:37

   The U.S. stock market is holding near its records Thursday as oil prices 
keep dropping on hopes that a deal may be nearing to allow tankers to carry 
crude once again from the Persian Gulf to customers.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is holding near its records Thursday 
as oil prices keep dropping on hopes that a deal may be nearing to allow 
tankers to carry crude once again from the Persian Gulf to customers.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 
another 3.8% to $97.38, down from more than $115 early this week. It and 
gasoline are still much more expensive than they were before the war with Iran 
began, but hope is rising in financial markets as Iran said it was reviewing 
the latest U.S. proposals on ending their war.

   On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to its all-time high set the day 
before after a spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said, "We expect an 
agreement sooner rather than later." Pakistan has been acting as a mediator 
between the United States and Iran. The hope is that an end to the war will 
reopen the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure has kept oil tankers pent up in the 
Persian Gulf and sent prices higher for all kinds of products worldwide.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 59 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. 
Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

   Of course, Wall Street has rallied strongly before on hopes for a coming end 
to the war with Iran, only to get quickly disappointed. That could happen 
again, and tensions are still high in the Middle East after a U.S. fighter jet 
shot out the rudder of an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman Wednesday as 
it tried to breach the American blockade of Iran's ports.

   Despite all those uncertainties, a powerful parade of big U.S. companies 
saying they made even bigger profits during the first three months of the year 
than analysts expected has helped support the U.S. stock market. That's 
important because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits 
over the long term.

   DoorDash climbed 3.09% after reporting better results for the latest quarter 
than expected. Datadog leaped 33.6% after the monitoring and security platform 
for cloud applications likewise topped expectations for profit, while Vistra 
rose 4.6% following the electricity company's better-than-expected results.

   They helped offset a 14.5% drop for Whirlpool, which tumbled after reporting 
much weaker results than analysts expected. The seller of home appliances said 
it would raise prices by at least 10% for some of its offerings, while 
accelerating cuts to its costs, as it contends with weaker confidence among 
U.S. consumers.

   McDonald's held relatively steady and added 0.6% after its revenue for the 
latest quarter edged past analysts' expectations. It credited a new burger and 
a continuing emphasis on value.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields fell with the price of oil. The yield on 
the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.33% from 4.36% late Wednesday and from 4.45% at 
the start of the week.

   Lower yields can bring down rates for mortgages and other kinds of loans 
going to U.S. households and businesses, which in turn can give the economy a 
boost. Lower yields also tend to push upward on prices for stocks and other 
kinds of investments. The 10-year yield, though, remains well above its 3.97% 
level from just before the war.

   Several reports on the U.S. economy also came in mixed. One said more U.S. 
workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the increase was not 
as bad as economists expected. Another suggested that productivity for U.S. 
workers improved by only half of what economists expected last quarter.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped in Europe following a stronger 
finish in Asia.

   Japan's Nikkei 225 roared 5.6% as it reopened following a holiday and caught 
up with big gains for other Asian markets from earlier in the week.

   It's at a record after soaring nearly 71% in the 12 months on strength for 
tech stocks benefiting from the boom in artificial intelligence.

   "I think it's a kind of bubble because buying activity concentrated on 
leading AI, artificial intelligence stock and semiconductor-related stocks. 
It's a situation where only semiconductor stocks are being bought," said 
Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at MONEX.