Surging oil prices and energy companies send stocks higher

Euro gains on growth data, dollar weakens

NEW YORK, June 23, (Agencies): US stocks are rising Friday to wrap up a turbulent week as energy companies climb along with the price of oil. Oil producers in OPEC agreed to produce more oil, a step investors have expected for the last few weeks. The European Union is following through on its promise to put import taxes on $3.4 billion in US goods including bourbon, peanut butter and orange juice in response to US tariffs on steel and aluminum. President Donald Trump threatened to put a 20 percent tax on cars imported from Europe.

The S&P 500 index added 13 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,763 as of 2 pm Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was on track to break an eight-day losing streak as it gained 190 points, or 0.8 percent, to 24,651. The Dow is down 1.8 percent this week, with Boeing off 5.3 percent and Caterpillar down 6.4 percent. Both companies are having their worst week since March. Makers of chemicals and other basic materials have also lost ground and technology companies have slipped.

The Nasdaq composite rose 2 points to 7,714. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,690.

Oil prices and energy companies rallied as the countries of OPEC agreed to boost production by almost 1 million barrels per day. Increased production means lower prices, but investors expected that outcome after several weeks of reports that those countries would agree to produce more oil. The move undoes part of a cut in production that OPEC and other producers including Russia instituted at the beginning of 2017.

Oil prices hit a three-year high of about $72 a barrel in May and have declined since then as reports suggested an increase in production was coming. However it’s not clear if some members will be able to ramp up production, and some experts said the increase may be smaller than advertised.

US crude climbed 4.8 percent to $68.67 a barrel in New York. It’s on track for its biggest one-day gain since OPEC agreed to cut production in November 2016. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 2.9 percent to $75.16 a barrel in London.

Chevron jumped 2.6 percent to $125.80 and Exxon Mobil picked up 2.3 percent to $81.56. Marathon Oil surged 8.2 percent to $21.56.

That jolted car companies. In Germany, shares of BMW lost 1.1 percent and Daimler sank 0.3 percent. Daimler fell more than 4 percent Thursday after it said Chinese tariffs on US cars would contribute to a decline in its earnings this year. Ford and Toyota also dipped while Peugeot and General Motors rose.

Used car dealership CarMax advanced 13.9 percent to $80.92 after its first-quarter results surpassed analysts’ expectations.

Open source software maker Red Hat dropped 12.4 percent to $145.12 after it cut its sales forecasts due to the strengthening dollar. Other technology companies also declined. The industry has been leading the market for more than a year, but it makes more of its sales outside the US than any other major S&P 500 sector. Micron Technology fell 3.7 percent

to $57.23 and Nvidia lost 1.9 percent to $252.23. European stocks all closed solidly higher and Wall Street also had a strong morning as markets sought to claw back some of the week’s losses seen on trade war fears.

Asian investors ended a tumultuous week on a cautious note Friday as the prospect of a debilitating global trade war hung over regional markets.

Tokyo ended 0.8 percent lower and Sydney lost 0.1 percent, while Singapore and Taipei each dropped 0.4 percent.

But after fluctuating throughout the day Hong Kong finished up 0.2 percent, while Shanghai added 0.5 percent. Both bore the brunt of selling pressure over the week but indications from Chinese authorities that they would unveil market-supportive measures has provided some cheer.

Among other markets Seoul rose 0.8 percent, Wellington was flat, and Manila and Bangkok pushed higher.

In early European trade London rose

0.4 percent, Paris gained 0.3 percent and Frankfurt was flat.

While an air of negativity stalked trading floors, John Chong, head of the investment-banking arm Maybank Kim Eng, was more upbeat for the outlook.

“Asia is now better positioned to weather the volatility,” he said at a conference in London.

The euro climbed on Friday as traders were encouraged by improved regional economic growth data and new assurances by Italian politicians that their nation would not leave the single currency.

The euro registered a weekly gain of nearly 0.5 percent against the dollar, reversing the prior week’s 1.35 percent drop tied to the European Central Bank’s hint it would hold interest rates through the summer of 2019.

The euro’s advance, together with a rebound in commodity-linked and emerging market currencies, pressured the dollar which ended lower on the week.