U.S. stock markets strengthen despite attacks in Gulf

Lola Evans
14 Jun 2019, 12:01 GMT+10

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 101.94 points, or 0.39%, to 26,106.77
The S&P 500 advanced 11.8 points, or 0.41%, to 2,891.64
The Nasdaq Composite did best of all, climbing 44.41 points, or 0.57%, to 7,837.13

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks forged higher on Thursday following reports of attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Oil prices surged triggering buying support for energy stocks.

Predictably the United States has blamed Iran for the attacks without citing any evidence.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States has assessed that Iran is responsible for the attacks from available intelligence and the mode of the attack.

The S&P 500 energy index added 1.3% in the wake of the development. Technology stocks were also in demand.

"We're meandering here with strength in the oil sector because that's where the market-moving news is today," Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama told the Reuters Thomson news agency Thursday.

At the close of trading Thursday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 101.94 points, or 0.39%, at 26,106.77.

The S&P 500 advanced 11.8 points, or 0.41%, to 2,891.64.

The Nasdaq Composite did best of all, climbing 44.41 points, or 0.57%, to 7,837.13.

The U.S. dollar rose on geopolitical concerns. The euro fell back to 1.1278. The British pound eased to 1.2679.

The Japanese yen and Swiss franc were little changed at 108.34 and 0.9937.

The Canadian dollar edged down to 1.3327.

The Australian dollar was decidely weaker at 0.6914 while the New Zealand dollar fell to 0.6559.

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