NEW YORK – Petroleum-linked shares rallied on Friday, even as United States stocks closed out a lacklustre week with a mixed session.
The gains by producers like Chevron and Halliburton, as well as other oil services companies, came after Russia announced it would trim production by 500,000 barrels per day in March after Western countries imposed a price cap over the Ukraine conflict.
The rally in energy stocks helped lift both the Dow and S&P 500 to positive sessions, even as higher Treasury bond yields weighed on the Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 33,869.27, up 0.5 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.2 per cent to 4,090.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.6 per cent to 11,718.12.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said investors are in a “wait and see” mode ahead of next week’s consumer price index report, which will influence the outlook for future Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
All three major indexes finished with losses for the week in a pullback after a torrid January as Treasury yields advanced.
Among individual companies, ride-hailing firm Lyft plunged more than 36 per cent after reporting a US$568.1 million (S$755.7 million) loss in the fourth quarter and projecting lower first-quarter revenues than expected.
Expedia dropped 8.6 per cent as it reported quarterly earnings that missed estimates after hurricanes and winter storms drove up cancellations, crimping revenues. AFP
