Kamal Ghorui
Wall Street traded mostly in green on Friday, lifted by strong results from Intel and growing hopes of possible talks between the United States and Iran over the weekend. Around 8:35 pm IST, Nasdaq was up 1% or 248 points to 24,686. S&P 500 was up 29 points or 0.41% to trade at 7,137. Dow Jones, however, drifted in red, shedding 181 points or 0.37% to reach 49,128.Intel shares jumped around 25% after the company said it expects higher-than-forecast revenue in the second quarter, highlighting the “essential” role of its products “in the AI era”. The gains helped lift overall market sentiment, especially in technology stocks. Chip stocks have been leading this rise, driven by continued demand linked to artificial intelligence.Oil prices, however, slipped amid talk of possible diplomatic developments. Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel after reports that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night. A Pakistani official confirmed the visit but did not give details about any meetings.Islamabad has been preparing for a possible second round of talks between the United States and Iran, though it is still unclear whether any US officials will be involved.Market sentiment also improved after Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire for three weeks.In the tech sector, shares of Meta fell, while Microsoft rose after both companies announced job cuts while continuing to invest heavily in artificial intelligence. Meta plans to cut about 8,000 jobs, while Microsoft will offer buyouts to 8,750 employees in the United States.Investors are now waiting for more earnings next week from major tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple.In Europe, stock markets were mostly lower. Germany’s DAX remained steady even as business confidence fell to its lowest level since the Covid pandemic.
