Tech stocks climb as Intel surges toward its best day since 1987, while oil prices keep swinging

NEW YORK (AP) — A surge for Intel following a blowout profit report is leading technology stocks higher Friday, while oil prices keep swinging in the wait for what’s next with the Iran war.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled near its all-time high set on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 195 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite led the market with a rise of 0.7%.

Intel led the way and is potentially heading for its best day since 1987. It jumped 26.7% after reporting much stronger results for the first three months of the year than analysts expected. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the next wave of artificial-intelligence technology is increasing the need for Intel’s chips and products, and the company’s forecast for profit in the spring topped analysts’ estimates.

Such strong profit reports have helped Wall Street rally to records after the S&P 500 leaped more than 12% in a little under a month. Hopes have also built in financial markets that the United States and Iran can find a way to avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy because of their war.

A ceasefire is still tenuously in place between the two, but tensions between them are still keeping oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. Oil prices climbed this week on worries about the strait, but a potentially encouraging signal came Friday after Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Pakistan for talks.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June yo-yoed between roughly $103 and $107 in the morning and most recently was up 0.3% at $105.38. The price for Brent delivered in July, which is the more popular contract for traders, fell 0.1% to $99.21.

On Wall Street, Procter & Gamble rose 4.3% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Shailesh Jejurikar said it saw broad-based growth across regions and products, which include Bounty paper towels and Tide detergent.

That helped offset a drop of 8.1% for Charter Communications, whose profit for the latest quarter came in weaker than analysts expected. It lost 120,000 internet customers during the three months, more than some analysts expected.

Hartford Insurance Group fell 2.1% after reporting profit growth for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slipped in much of Europe following a more mixed finish in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.7% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.34%, where it was late Thursday.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.