Oil trades near 5-week high after reaching $50

up 31.22 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 6,460.31. The tech sector jumped 0.38 per cent, powered by Apple and chip stocks.

The semiconductor index surged 1.6 per cent, boosted by a near 6 per cent pop in Nvidia to a record high after a bullish broker call.

The broader S&P tech index has been the best performing sector this year, rising more than 25 per cent, far outpacing the broader S&P’s 11.5 per cent growth. Also helping tech was Apple’s first gains since the launch of the new iPhones. The stock was up 1.33 per cent.

Boeing hit a record high, powering the Dow for the second day in a row, after a price target hike from Canaccord Genuity and new orders wins.

Among the laggards was Oracle, which sank 6.5 per cent, headed for its worst day in more than 4 years, after disappointing forecasts for its profit and cloud business.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,356 to 1,346. On the Nasdaq, 1,489 issues rose and 1,185 fell.

Oil headed for a second weekly advance on forecasts for accelerating crude demand and as US Gulf Coast refineries continued to recover from Hurricane Harvey. Futures were little changed in New York, up 5.4 per cent this week, after trading above $50 (Dh184) a barrel on Thursday for the first time in five weeks. Opec and the International Energy Agency boosted demand forecasts, signalling the surplus that has weighed on prices may shrink further. US refiners are resuming operations after Harvey halted almost a quarter of the nation’s capacity.

While oil has rebounded the past two weeks, prices have struggled to hold above $50 a barrel this year as rising US output stifles supply curbs led by members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The group and its allies are said to be discussing extending those cuts past the end of March by more than three months as the global glut drains slower than expected.

“The feel-good factor appears to have returned to the oil market,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. “Underpinning the prevailing sentiment is the positive afterglow of this week’s frenzy of bullish oil demand forecasts from the leading energy agencies.”

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery was at $50.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

AP The New York Stock Exchange. Though the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up, the S&P 500 fell as investors saw higher inflation increasing the chances of an interest rate hike.