US STOCKS-Wall Street advances as financial, energy stocks gain - Reuters News
Updates to early afternoon
By Sruthi Shankar
March 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on Friday after strong economic data boosted financial stocks and a jump in oil prices lifted shares of energy companies.
JPMorgan and Bank of America rose nearly 1 percent, helping the S&P financial index gain 0.55 percent.
The top gainer on the S&P 500 was the energy index, which rose 1.2 percent, helped by advances in shares of Exxon and Schlumberger.
"It seems like fundamental backdrop is positive and that is offsetting the turmoil at the White House," Jack Ablin, chief investment officer, Cresset Wealth Advisors, Chicago.
The gains come at the end of a rocky week, dominated by concerns of a trade war with China and political turmoil, which began with the ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"Anything that leans towards protectionism tends to be negative headwind to the markets," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York. "As we hear more rhetoric, the more concerned we get."
The three main indexes are still on track to end the week lower, with the S&P 500 .SPX posting its longest streak of losses in 2018.
At 12:30 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 0.5 percent at 24,996.84 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.35 percent to 2,756.85 points and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 0.08 percent at 7,487.59 points.
Economic data showed U.S. factory output jumped 1.1 percent in February.
Retailers Walmart WMT.N and Home Depot HD.N gained more than 1 percent after the University of Michigan's preliminary reading of consumer sentiment index rose more-than-expected to 102.0.
Adobe Systems ADBE.O was up 3 percent after the Photoshop maker topped analysts' profit and revenue estimates for the seventh straight quarter.
Micron Technology MU.O rose 2.2 percent after Baird analysts raised price target on the stock by $40 to $100 and Western Digital WDC.N gained 3.5 percent after an upgrade to "outperform".
Volatility is expected to increase on Friday as investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to their expiration.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE for a 2.24-to-1 ratio and for a 1.63-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
Oil rises with Wall Street, heads for weekly gain - Reuters News
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday, on track for a weekly gain as market participants followed the U.S. stock market higher and looked to cover short bets ahead of a weekend in which the "60 Minutes" news program will air an interview with Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
Brent crude futures rose 76 cents to $65.88 a barrel, a 1.2 percent gain, by 12:16 p.m. EDT (1612 GMT). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for April, which will expire on Tuesday, rose 94 cents to $62.13 a barrel, a 1.5 percent gain.
Earlier both contracts were up over a dollar.
Saudi Crown Prince "Mohammed bin Salman will be on '60 Minutes' on Sunday comparing Iran's Ayatollah to Hitler, and the battle in Ghouta, Syria, is ramping up," said John Kilduff, partner at investment manager Again Capital in New York. "You can't be short oil over the weekend with all that going on in the region."
Gains on Wall Street also supported prices as crude futures have recently been moving in tandem with U.S. stock indices.
Oil was on track for a weekly loss in early trade, but Friday's rise put them on course for a weekly gain.
On Thursday the International Energy Agency (IEA) said global oil demand is expected to pick up this year but supply is growing at a faster pace, leading to a rise in inventories in the first quarter of 2018.
The agency raised its forecast for oil demand this year to 99.3 million barrels per day (bpd) from 97.8 million bpd in 2017, and said it expected supply from non-OPEC nations to grow by 1.8 million bpd in 2018 to 59.9 million bpd, led by the United States.
OPEC and other producers have cut output to reduce a global crude glut. Investors will watch U.S. rig count data due at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday.
"Producers, as we've gone through earnings, are showing that they're going to remain disciplined even with a little more supportive oil price, which we think is healthy for the market," said Matt Sallee, a portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital in Leawood, Kansas.
Sallee added that he expected the data to show a small pickup in rig counts.
On Wednesday, the U.S. government reported that crude stockpiles in the United States increased by a more-than-expected 5 million barrels.
Political risk linked to Tehran increased after Rex Tillerson was sacked as U.S. secretary of state in favor of an Iran and North Korea hawk. Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Riyadh would develop nuclear weapons if Iran did so.
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