Financial Markets                      06/09 09:32

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is ticking higher Tuesday as 
artificial-intelligence stocks regain more of their sudden and sharp losses 
from last week, while oil prices ease.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled back within 2.5% of its all-time high set a 
week ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 195 points, or 0.4%, as of 
10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was close to flat.

   Companies selling computer chips, memory and other building blocks of the AI 
boom again helped lift the market.

   Micron Technology rose 0.7%, for example, a day after jumping 9.9% and two 
days after plunging 13.3%. The computer memory company's stock has already 
tripled so far this year, raising criticism that it's gone too far, too fast. 
Following last week's industrywide sell-off, the question is whether AI stocks 
are heading for a long downturn or just needed a shake-out to get rid of 
excessive optimism.

   The biggest gain in the S&P 500 came from J.M. Smucker, which jumped 11.5% 
after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected. The company behind the Folgers, Hostess and other brands benefited 
from higher prices charged for coffee and sweet baked goods. It joined the long 
list of U.S. companies delivering stronger profit growth than analysts 
expected, which has helped drive the S&P 500 to record after record this year.

   Nuvalent soared 38.8% after GSK agreed to buy the biotech company for $10.6 
billion. The shares of U.K.-based GSK that trade in New York added 0.6%.

   Wall Street, meanwhile, got some relief from falling oil prices. The price 
for a barrel of Brent crude oil dropped 3.3% to $91.14 after briefly topping 
$98 the day before.

   Prices have swung up and down as hopes fade and rise that the United States 
and Iran can reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That would allow oil 
tankers to resume delivering crude from the Persian Gulf to customers.

   The drop in oil prices helped stocks of airlines, which have been punished 
by soaring fuel costs. U.S. airlines spent more than $6 billion on jet fuel in 
April, up 78% from a year earlier, according to government data. United 
Airlines rose 3%, and Delta Air Lines climbed 2.8%.

   To make up for their higher fuel bills, airlines have been raising their own 
airfares. It's part of the broad, painful acceleration of inflation hitting 
U.S. shoppers because of the war with Iran. The high oil prices are also 
pushing up bond yields worldwide, raising the pressure on stock prices.

   Treasury yields eased a bit Tuesday with the fade in oil prices. The yield 
on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.54% from 4.56% late Monday. But it's still 
well above its 3.97% level from just before the war with Iran.

   The latest monthly updates on U.S. inflation will arrive later in the week, 
with one on consumer prices coming Wednesday and one on wholesale prices coming 
Thursday.

   Inflation is high enough, and the U.S. job market looks strong enough, that 
traders on Wall Street largely expect the Federal Reserve will have to raise 
its main interest rate at least once by the end of this year. Higher interest 
rates would keep a lid on inflation, but they would also threaten to slow 
economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

   The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already recently climbed to its 
highest level in nine months, and high costs to borrow money could discourage 
the building of AI data centers that are fueling the U.S. economy's growth.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in much of Europe following bigger 
moves in Asia.

   South Korea's Kospi jumped 8.2% and nearly recovered Monday's plunge of 
8.3%. It's been beholden to the performance of big tech stocks like SK Hynix 
and Samsung Electronics.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this 
report.

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