WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After trending higher over the past several sessions, the major U.S. stock indexes are turning in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are seeing further upside, the narrower Dow is giving back ground.
Currently, the Dow is down 142.15 points or 0.3 percent at 48,043.65, while the S&P 500 is up 10.27 points or 0.2 percent at 6,834.93 and the Nasdaq is up 144.23 points or 0.6 percent at 22,966.65.
The pullback by the Dow partly reflects a slump by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud-based software company tumbling by 3.1 percent.
Dow components Nike (NKE), Verizon (VZ) and Walmart (WMT) are also showing notable moves to the downside.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached their best intraday levels in over a month amid ongoing optimism that the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East will hold.
Ahead of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan over the weekend, President Donald Trump said Iran is doing a 'very poor job' of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz, adding, 'That is not the agreement we have!'
Trump also responded to reports indicating Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the vital waterway, saying, 'They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!'
Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from the University of Michigan showing a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of April.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index plunged to 47.6 in April after falling to 53.3 in March. Economists had expected the index to dip to 52.0.
The index tumbled to its lowest level on record amid concerns about the war with Iran and a surge in year-ahead inflation expectations.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed consumer prices advanced by 0.9 percent in March, in line with economist estimates.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks are extending the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.8 percent to a record closing high.
Considerable strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Steel and gold stocks are also seeing notable strength, while software stocks are extending yesterday's slump, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 1.5 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.5 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly lower over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.6 basis points at 4.309 percent.
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