U.S. stocks rose in early trading on Friday as oil prices retreated after President Trump on Thursday seemed to open the door to more diplomacy in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 traded 0.3% higher shortly after markets opened on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%. Stocks were little changed on Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials kept interest rates steady, but raised their inflation forecast and lowered their economic growth outlook amid elevated economic uncertainty. U.S. markets were closed in observance of the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday.
President Trump on Thursday said he would take two weeks to decide whether to join Israel in military action against Iran. The deferral appeared to be a pivot for the president, whose rhetoric in recent days suggested he was considering assisting Israel in its efforts to neutralize Iran’s nuclear program by force.
Markets have been contending with geopolitical risk and the possibility of an inflationary oil supply shock since Israel bombed Iranian nuclear and military targets last Friday. Oil prices spiked last week and were trading at their highest level since January in non-U.S. markets on Thursday. Crude prices slid about 3% on Friday amid optimism the U.S. may push for Israel and Iran to negotiate.
The Magnificent Seven all traded higher on Friday, with Apple (AAPL) shares rising about 2% to lead the group. Tesla (TSLA) stock rose about 1%, while shares of Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), and Meta (META) were marginally higher.
In corporate news, shares of Accenture (ACN) dropped about 6% after the professional services firm’s quarterly bookings fell short of Wall Street estimates. Home Depot (HD) stock ticked slightly higher after The Wall Street Journal reported the company had made an offer to acquire building products distributor GMS (GMS), shares of which jumped about 30%.
Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) were up more than 6% in early trading. The stock has soared since debuting early this month, boosted by the GENIUS Act’s progress in Congress. Cryptocurrencies were broadly higher on Friday, with Bitcoin trading at about $106,000, up from $104,300 overnight. Shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) rose 3%, building on their own GENIUS Act rally.
Treasury yields advanced on Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on all kinds of consumer loans, was recently up 3 basis points at 4.42%. The U.S. dollar index, which has slumped this year amid the uncertainty generated by President Trump’s tariffs, was about 0.2% lower.