Oil prices climbed on Friday, with Brent crude rising 3.14% to $116.72 a barrel from $113.17, its highest settlement since April 29, as concerns over Middle East energy supplies intensified.
Brent gained $3.55 a barrel during the session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $3.80, or 3.8%, to $103.27 a barrel from $99.47.
Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia heightened concerns about regional energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, authorities in the United Arab Emirates reported an oil spill, adding to uncertainty over supplies from the region. Brent finished the week about 6% higher.
Energy shares benefited from the rally. Wall Street’s energy sector gained 2.5% to reach a record high, although the major US stock indexes closed lower.
Dow Jones Industrial Average losses reached 652.82 points, or 1.23%, leaving the index at 52,215.16. The S&P 500 fell 39.75 points, or 0.52%, to 7,623.68, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 53.52 points, or 0.21%, to 25,955.34.
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For the week, the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq declined 0.7%. However, the Dow gained 0.4%, extending its weekly winning streak to three.
Investors also continued to assess whether spending on artificial intelligence would deliver sufficient returns. Technology shares recovered unevenly after Thursday’s semiconductor sell-off.
Both the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the S&P 500 technology index gained 0.4%. Among individual companies, Microsoft rose 0.7%, but Meta Platforms fell 1%. Alphabet and Amazon edged lower.
“There’s still anxiety over the AI trade to a certain extent,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth in Boston.
American Express shares also declined, losing 3.7% after its quarterly results. Its chief executive described business momentum as good but called for a more agile and efficient organisation.
European markets fell for a second session. The pan-European STOXX 600 declined 0.31% to 635.77 points and lost about 1.4% over the week, its steepest weekly fall since early September.
(With additional input from Reuters and The Associated Press)
