Financial Markets                      05/01 09:29

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is rising toward more records Friday 
after Apple, Estee Lauder and other big companies became the latest to deliver 
fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. Easing oil 
prices also helped to steady the relatively few stock markets open worldwide on 
the May Day holiday.

   The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and was building on its all-time high set the day 
before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 288 points, or 0.6%, as of 
10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 1.1% to its own 
record.

   Apple led the way and rallied 5.4% after the iPhone seller reported stronger 
profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because it's 
one of Wall Street's biggest stocks in terms of overall size, it was by far the 
strongest force lifting the S&P 500.

   Estee Lauder climbed 6.2% after reporting better earnings than expected, 
thanks in part to strength in China, and raising some of its financial 
forecasts. Sandisk rose 4.1% after the maker of storage for computers blew past 
analysts' expectations for profit thanks in part to voracious demand from data 
centers.

   Colgate-Palmolive added 3.7% after likewise delivering bigger results than 
expected, though CEO Noel Wallace said it expects "volatile macroeconomic 
conditions and slower category growth to continue in 2026."

   The main uncertainty for the global economy is where oil prices will go 
because of the Iran war. Brent's price spurted higher early this week on 
worries that the war will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for a long time. 
That would in turn keep oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of 
delivering crude to customers worldwide.

   But such moves have been quick to reverse throughout the war as hopes rise 
and fall. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, 
fell 2.2% to $107.96 Friday, trimming its gain for the week to roughly 9%. 
Brent was selling for roughly $70 per barrel before the war began.

   That rise since February helped two of the country's biggest oil-and-gas 
companies report stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. 
But stock prices nevertheless fell for both Exxon Mobil, 1.2%, and Chevron, 
1.3%, as oil prices regressed and each reported drops in net income from a year 
earlier.

   The falling oil prices also helped Treasury yields to ease in the bond 
market. So did a report in the morning that said that growth for U.S. 
manufacturing was a touch softer last month than economists expected. That 
could give the Federal Reserve more leeway in the future to resume its cuts to 
interest rates at some point.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.35% from 4.40% late Thursday.

   Many overseas markets were closed. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4%, and 
London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

   ___

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

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