-- US equity indexes were mixed in the final leg of trading on Friday, ahead of the high-stakes Iran peace talks in Pakistan and as a red-hot inflation report lifted government bond yields.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 22,900.3, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 6,816.7 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.5% to 47,931.5.
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 1.6% to $96.27, and Brent crude futures slid 1.4% to $94.68, moving between gains and losses on Friday as Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon and a severely restricted Strait of Hormuz risked the Iran ceasefire deal ahead of the talks.
In US economic news, the consumer price index accelerated to its highest monthly reading in nearly four years, rising 0.9% in March, in line with expectations. Energy prices jumped about 11% sequentially in March, led by a 21% surge in gasoline, accounting for almost three-quarters of the headline increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year up 2.2 basis points to 4.32% and the two-year climbed 1.6 basis points to 3.80%.