By CHAN HO-HIM and MATT OTT AP Business Writers
Oil prices fell and markets inched higher before the opening bell Friday, adding to records a day earlier on optimism over a tentative deal to extend the ceasefire in the war with Iran.
Futures for the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1% a day after hitting another record, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%. Futures for the Nasdaq, which also hit an all-time high Thursday, were effectively flat.
Dell Technologies soared 33% overnight after the computer and IT giant obliterated Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit forecasts. Dell posted sales of nearly $44 billion in the period — about $8 billion more than analysts were expecting — and also raised its guidance for the full year.
The Pentagon also announced Thursday that it has awarded Dell with a five-year, $9.7 billion contract to streamline its use of Microsoft products and services.
In the retail sector, Gap tumbled 15% after it nudged past first quarter profit targets but cut its full-year sales guidance.
On Thursday, negotiators from the U.S. and Iran reached a tentative deal on extending their ceasefire by 60 days and holding a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, a U.S. official said. Iran had not yet publicly confirmed the deal and the tentative agreement was still pending U.S. President Donald Trump’s sign off.
Oil prices fell Friday with Brent crude, the international standard, slipping $1.26 to $91.44 a barrel. It was trading around $70 per barrel in late February before the war began. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.03 to $87.87 per barrel.
Investors are closely watching for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. official said the tentative accord makes it clear that Iran wouldn’t be able to impose tolls on ships transiting the strait, while the U.S. would gradually lift its sea blockade on Iranian ports.
“The oil market continues to edge lower amid growing optimism that the U.S. and Iran are moving toward a deal,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote Friday. “A reopening of the strait would offer some immediate relief to the oil market with tankers leaving the Persian Gulf. However, the recovery is still uncertain.”
Shipowners may be reluctant to send vessels into the Persian Gulf, at least initially, over fears that the ceasefire could fail, they wrote. Also a recovery in oil and gas production would likely also be gradual rather than immediate.
Markets in Japan and South Korea hit fresh records as world shares mostly advanced Friday on expectations the U.S. and Iran will agree to extend the ceasefire in their war by 60 days.
Oil prices slipped, but remain above pre-war levels as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. Analysts warned that the potential ceasefire extension should be viewed with caution, as it will take time for oil supplies to recover.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 added 0.6%.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5% and ended at a record high close of 66,329.50, as data released Friday showed that Tokyo’s core inflation rate for May rose more slowly than economists expected.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.6% to 8,476.15, also at an all-time closing high, with technology companies powering the gains thanks to the global boom in artificial intelligence.
Shares in Samsung Electronics, the country’s leading company, rose 5.8%. SK Hynix, which has benefited greatly from the shift to AI, gained 1.9%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng added 0.7% to 25,182.39, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7% to 4,068.57.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.6% at 8,731.70.
Taiwan’s Taiex traded 2.5% higher. India’s Sensex lost 0.5%.