Futures are lower as oil prices reach levels not seen since May amid halting efforts to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiation table.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.3 per cent Friday, while Dow Jones futures slid 0.6 per cent. Nasdaq futures dipped 0.1 per cent.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.6 per cent to US$114.92 per barrel on Friday. U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped 1.8 per cent to $101.22 per barrel.
Gasoline prices in the U.S. are rising again. The national average for a gallon of regular gas rose 2 cents to $4.29 Friday, according to the AAA, compared with $3.07 a gallon a year ago.
Higher oil prices have weighed on stocks. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil leaped four per cent on Thursday and has shot up from less than $97 at the start of the month on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
Turkey hosted meetings Friday with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and European nations — the UK, France, Germany and Italy — to discuss conflicts in the Middle East and efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war.
Concerns about the cost of building out artificial intelligence continue to weigh on stocks this week, though a sell-off eased early Friday.
AI-related stocks have been swinging on worries that the booming sector may be under threat from the rising costs of borrowing money to build data centres and buy more AI chips.
Meta Platforms, which is pushing its Muse AI agent, fell slightly before the market opened Friday after reporting stronger than expected revenue for the latest quarter, though profits fell short. The Facebook and Instagram parent company, which closed down seven per cent on Thursday, also said it’s creating a new class of stock to raise money to pay for AI investments and other expenses.
Tesla was a bit higher in premarket trading after closing down 3.1 per cent on Thursday as the electric vehicle maker reported a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected, though its revenue was weaker than forecast.
The global tide against AI stocks knocked Nvidia down 4.4 per cent at Thursday’s close, but it made slight gains before Friday’s market open. The chip giant is the largest company on Wall Street by total value and movements for its stock carry more weight on the S&P 500 than any other.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX dropped 0.8 per cent to 25,171.50, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.7 per cent to 7,756.34. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.5 per cent to 10,670.55. Asian markets were mostly higher.
The U.S. dollar rose to 156.92 Japanese yen from 156.77 yen. The euro fell to $1.1195 from $1.1218.
By Elaine Kurtenbach and Michelle Chapman
