Tech Boosts US Stocks to Record Close, Oil Dips on Signs of Iran Peace Progress

• Markets choppy amid peace talk hopes and corporate earnings
• S&P 500, Nasdaq notch modest weekly gains; Dow ticks lower on the week
• WTI settles down 1.51%, Brent settles down 0.25%
• Dollar posts weekly gain

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched all-time closing highs on Friday as investors assessed signs of progress in U.S.-Iran peace talks and weighed solid corporate earnings against downbeat forward guidance due to war-related energy price shocks.

Tech shares, buoyed by strong results from Intel INTC.O, helped to lift the Nasdaq 1.6%, while the S&P 500's gain was more modest. The Dow closed in negative territory.

For the week, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logged modest gains, while the blue-chip Dow registered a decline from last Friday's close.

"Intel just confirms the AI boom is alive and well, and this earnings season is off to a tremendous start," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Pakistan to discuss proposals to restart peace talks between the United States and Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters that Iran plans to make an offer aimed at meeting U.S. demands.

"There's optimism that talks are going to restart soon," Detrick added. "With the extreme weakness we've seen from defense stocks the last two weeks, the market might be saying there could be some type of major peace deal on the horizon, which clearly is a net positive."

Oil prices dipped as optimism over potential U.S.-Iran peace talks offset supply concerns, but were sharply higher on the week.

U.S. crude CLc1 fell 1.51% to settle at $94.40 per barrel, while Brent LCOc1 settled at $105.33 per barrel, down 0.25% on the day.

SOLID CORPORATE EARNINGS MARRED BY DOUR GUIDANCE

First-quarter reporting season has hit full stride, with 139 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 81% have beaten earnings estimates. Analysts now see aggregate year-on-year S&P 500 earnings growth of 16.1%, up from the 14.4% growth projected at the beginning of the quarter, according to LSEG I/B/E/S.

But on analyst conference calls, CEOs are increasingly providing downbeat guidance due to spiking fuel costs resulting from the war with Iran. Consumer products company Procter & Gamble PG.N warned on its Friday earnings call that it expects a roughly $1 billion hit to its fiscal 2027 profit because of the war-related surge in energy prices.

Several high-profile earnings are on the docket next week, including tech and tech-adjacent megacaps Amazon AMZN.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O, and Meta Platforms META.O. Oil supermajors Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Chevron CVX.N are slated to report next Friday.

"There's some very big names set to report next week," Detrick said. "We're optimistic we're going to continue to see solid earnings, just like we have had so far this earnings season."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 79.61 points, or 0.16%, to 49,230.71, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 56.68 points, or 0.80%, to 7,165.08, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 398.09 points, or 1.63%, to 24,836.60.

European shares closed lower, dipping to a more than two-week low and logging a weekly decline of 2.5% as investors worried about the disruption of energy supplies by the Middle East conflict.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS rose 5.42 points, or 0.51%, to 1,072.73.

The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index fell 0.58%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 fell 12.54 points, or 0.51%.

Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF rose 12.86 points, or 0.80%, to 1,612.17. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed higher by 0.81%, at 825.78, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 575.95 points, or 0.97%, to 59,716.18.

The dollar dipped but remained on pace for a weekly gain as war uncertainty kept investors on edge.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.32% to 98.51, with the euro EUR= up 0.3% at $1.1718.

Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar weakened 0.19% to 159.4.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC= fell 0.43% to $77,587.82. Ethereum ETH= declined 0.27% to $2,320.06.

U.S. Treasury yields dipped on hopes that U.S.-Iran peace talks could take place over the weekend, bolstering confidence that the war could be close to ending.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 1.7 basis points to 4.306%, from 4.323% late on Thursday.

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield fell 0.3 basis point to 4.9153% from 4.918% late on Thursday.

The 2-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 4.5 basis points to 3.78%, from 3.825% late on Thursday.

Gold advanced on the day but registered a weekly loss, as war-related inflation worries persisted.

Spot gold XAU= rose 0.38% to $4,710.30 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 rose 0.2% to $4,714.40 an ounce.

Fund flows: U.S. equity sector funds https://reut.rs/4g5IVAe

Oil prices set for biggest weekly jump since first week of war https://reut.rs/3OmIR63

World asset performance YTD