Financial Markets                      04/24 15:30

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- A surge for Intel following a blowout profit report led the 
U.S. stock market to more records Friday, while oil prices kept yo-yoing in the 
wait for what's next with the Iran war.

   The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and topped its prior all-time high, which was set 
on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 79 points, or 0.2%, and 
the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.6% to its own record thanks to the jump for tech.

   Intel led the way and roared past its 2000 peak during the dot-com boom to 
an all-time high. It soared 23.6% for its best day since 1987 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, and the 
S&P 500 has leaped nearly 13% 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 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 an encouraging 
signal came Friday after Iran's top diplomat said he was heading to Pakistan. 
That's where officials have been trying to get the United States and Iran to 
convene for a second round of ceasefire negotiations.

   White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said in an interview on 
Fox News Channel that President Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve 
Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran's foreign minister.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June yo-yoed for 
much of the day before settling at $105.33, up 0.2%. The price for a barrel of 
Brent oil delivered in July, which is where more of the trading is happening in 
the market, fell 0.2% to $99.13.

   On Wall Street, Procter & Gamble rose 2.5% 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 25.5% 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 3.7% after reporting profit growth for the 
latest quarter that fell short of analysts' expectations.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 56.68 points to 7,165.08. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dipped 79.61 to 49,230.71, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 
398.09 to 24,836.60.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields eased as traders upped their bets on the 
possibility that the Federal Reserve could resume its cuts to interest rates 
later this year.

   The path appeared to clear Friday for Trump's nominee to chair the Fed, 
Kevin Warsh, after the U.S. Justice Department ended its probe into the Fed's 
current chair, Jerome Powell.

   Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he would oppose 
Warsh until the investigation was resolved, effectively blocking his 
confirmation. Warsh is the choice of Trump, who has been arguing loudly for 
lower interest rates, which could help mortgages and other kinds of loans 
become less expensive.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.30% from 4.34% late Thursday.

   A report in the morning also said sentiment among U.S. consumers remains 
sour. A survey by the University of Michigan found weaker sentiment in April 
across political party, income, age, and education, though it improved a bit 
after the ceasefire in the war with Iran was announced earlier in the month.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. Japan's 
Nikkei 225 rose 1%, and France's CAC 40 fell 0.8% for two of the world's bigger 
moves.

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

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