Financial Markets                      04/23 09:33

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is edging back from its all-time high 
Thursday following mixed profit reports from Tesla and other big companies. Oil 
prices, meanwhile, are swinging higher on continued uncertainty about what will 
happen next in the war with Iran.

   The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% following a big rally that erased all its losses 
because of the war and then carried it to records. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average was down 71 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern, and the Nasdaq 
composite was 0.5% lower after setting its own record.

   Tesla dragged on the market and fell 4.3% even though it reported better 
results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors may be 
focusing instead on Tesla's increased forecast for spending this year, as it 
builds factories to make robots and other products.

   "You should expect to see a very significant increase in capital 
expenditures," Elon Musk told investors late Wednesday, "but I think well 
justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream."

   ServiceNow dropped even more, 16.2%, even though its results for the latest 
quarter matched analysts' expectations. The company has been under pressure, 
along with much of the broad software industry, because of worries that rivals 
powered by artificial-intelligence technology could undercut its business.

   Analysts said investors may have also been underwhelmed by its forecast for 
a declaration in growth for an important measure of revenue.

   Texas Instruments helped limit Wall Street's losses after breezing past 
analysts' expectations for profit in the latest quarter. CEO Haviv Ilan said 
the semiconductor company is benefiting from growth led by industrial and data 
center customers, and it gave forecasts for profit and revenue in the spring 
that cleared analysts' estimates.

   The 16.6% leap for Texas Instrument's stock was the strongest single force 
pushing upward on the S&P 500.

   In the oil market, prices swung higher as uncertainty continues about what 
will happen with the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire is still in place between 
the United States and Iran, but oil tankers aren't able to get through the 
narrow waterway off Iran's coast to exit the Persian Gulf and reach customers.

   The U.S. military on Thursday seized another tanker associated with the 
smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up the standoff a day after Iran's 
paramilitary Revolutionary Guards took control of two vessels in the strait. 
President Donald Trump also said Thursday he ordered the U.S. military to 
"shoot and kill" small Iranian boats that deploy mines to gum up traffic in the 
strait.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1% 
to $102.97 after bouncing between roughly $101 and $106 overnight. It's unclear 
whether U.S.-Iran peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume 
anytime soon.

   More expensive oil has hurt airlines in particular because of the industry's 
already big fuel bills, and stocks diverged in the industry following the 
latest profit reports.

   American Airlines Group rose 4% after reporting better profit and revenue 
for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Even though winter storms hurt 
its revenue during the first three months of the year, American said demand was 
strong for flights, and it saw the nine best weeks for revenue intake in its 
100-year history.

   Southwest Airlines, though, lost 2.2% after reporting weaker quarterly 
results than analysts expected. It said it would not give an updated forecast 
for profit this year because of "the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty."

   Also on the losing end of Wall Street was IBM, which sank 9.7% despite 
reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. 
Analysts said investors were focusing on some potentially discouraging numbers 
underneath the surface, including decelerating growth in trends for its 
software business.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Hong 
Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 0.7% for two of the 
bigger losses.

   South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.9% after the government reported 
better-than-expected economic growth for the start of the year, boosted by 
strong exports, particularly of computer chips used in the AI boom. 
Semiconductor supplier SK Hynix said its revenue for the latest quarter jumped 
more than analysts expected largely because of AI-related demand.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.29% 
from 4.30% late Wednesday.

   A report in the morning said slightly more U.S. workers applied for 
unemployment benefits last week, but the number is still at a historically 
healthy level. A separate, preliminary report on U.S. business output from S&P 
Global also suggested growth is improving a bit from its near-stagnation seen 
in March.

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   AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

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