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US Equity Indexes Mixed as Investors Await Iran Peace Talks, Red Hot Inflation Lifts Treasury Yields
US equity indexes closed mixed on Friday ahead of high-stakes Iran peace talks, and as a tripling of inflation in March pushed government bond yields higher.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 22,902.89, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 6,816.89 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.6% to 47,916.57. All sectors except technology, materials, consumer discretionary, and real estate fell. Consumer staples, health care, and financials led the decliners.If a peace deal is not reached this weekend at Pakistan-brokered negotiations in Islamabad, the US is prepared to renew and intensify strikes on Iran, US President Donald Trump said, according to a CNN news report. The war in the Middle East drove up the US inflation rate threefold in March amid soaring gasoline prices, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reportedly said talks cannot start until the US meets two conditions: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets. Ambassadors from Israel, Lebanon, and the US will hold talks in Washington, DC, on Friday to set the table for future negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, an Israeli official and a source familiar with the talks told CNN.US Vice President JD Vance, setting off for US-Iran talks, said Washington is "willing to extend the open hand" this weekend but warned Tehran not to "try to play us," The Wall Street Journal reported.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 1.8% to $96.14, and Brent crude futures slid 1.7% to $94.34.In economic news, US consumer inflation accelerated to its highest monthly reading in nearly four years in March as the Middle East conflict sent energy prices sharply higher.The consumer price index advanced 0.9% last month, its strongest pace of growth since June 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The latest print met a Bloomberg-polled consensus view. Prices rose 0.3% in February. Annually, inflation grew to 3.3% from February's 2.4% rise, falling short of Wall Street's 3.4% projection.Energy prices soared about 11% sequentially in March, led by a 21% surge in gasoline, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the headline increase, official data showed."The fallout of the US/Israel-Iran war was evident in the March consumer price index," Oxford Economics Lead US Economist Bernard Yaros said in an e-mail to.US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 2.6 basis points to 4.32% and the two-year climbed 2.1 basis points to 3.80%.The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 47.6 in April from 53.3 in March, versus 51.5 expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.Respondents saw one-year inflation expectations at 4.8%, up from 3.8% in March, while five-year inflation expectations rose to 3.4% from 3.2%.According to CME FedWatch tool, the probability of the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged in the 3.5% to 3.75% range increased in every rate-setting meeting from April to December.In precious metals, gold futures fell 0.7% to $4,785.6 while silver futures edged up 0.2% to $76.56.
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