Brent oil prices eke out weekly gain as U.S. targets Iran exports and tariff fears fade
Global benchmark crude prices posted their first weekly gain in a month...
Global benchmark crude prices posted their first weekly gain in a month Friday, finding support as the U.S. looked to reduce Iranian crude exports and after President Donald Trump did not immediately impose reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
Prices for both global and benchmark crude, however, ended the trading session lower as traders continued to fret over uncertainty surrounding tariffs and their impact on oil demand.
April Brent crude the global benchmark, fell by 28 cents, or 0.4%, at $74.74 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, settling 0.1% higher for the week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery fell 55 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $70.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending down 0.4% for the week. That was its fourth weekly fall in a row.
March gasolineshed 1% to $2.09 a gallon, down 0.7% for the week, while March heating oiladded 0.5% to $2.46 a gallon, contributing to a weekly rise of 1.3%.
Natural gas for March delivery settled at $3.73 per million British thermal units, up 2.7% Friday, for a 12.6% rise on the week.
S&P 500 misses record close, books weekly gain after weak U.S. retail-sales data
The U.S. stock market closed mostly lower Friday as investors...
The U.S. stock market closed mostly lower Friday as investors weighed a retail sales report that was weaker than Wall Street expected, but major benchmarks saw weekly gains ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.
The S&P 500slipped0.44 point on Friday, or less than 0.1%, to end nearly flat at 6,114.63.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 165.35 points, or 0.4%, to close at 44,546.08.
The Nasdaq Compositerose 81.13 points,or 0.4%, to finish at 20,026.77.
Investors shrugged off tariff concerns and a hot inflation report this week, with the S&P 500 snapping back-to-back weekly losses. The S&P 500 ended Friday just 0.1% below its record closing peak notched in late January.
For the week, the S&P 500 climbed 1.5%, the Dow rose 0.5% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.6%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock market's fear gauge, the Cboe Volatility Index, subsided this week while the 10-year Treasury yield fell.
The 10-year Treasury rate ended Friday at 4.475%, its lowest yield since Feb. 6 based on 3 p.m. Eastern time levels, according to Dow Jones Market Data. U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday in honor of Presidents Day.
Dominion Energy raised its five-year spending plan through 2029 by 16% to about $50.1 billion to meet growing power demand driven by more electrification, economic growth and an expected surge in data center electricity needs, the company said.
“We’re seeing the need for incremental investment across distribution, transmission and generation to ensure reliability amid continuing growing demand in our service areas,” Dominion Energy CFO Steven Ridge said Feb. 12 on the company’s latest earnings call.
The utility is headquartered in the world’s most populous area for data centers—Virginia—and has connected about 450 data centers representing about 9 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in the state, according to Dominion Energy CEO Bob Blue.
Apollo Funds Acquires NatGas Treatment Provider Bold Production Services
Funds managed by Apollo Global Management Inc. have acquired a majority...
Funds managed by Apollo Global Management Inc. have acquired a majority interest in Bold Production Services LLC, a provider of natural gas treatment solutions, the companies announced Feb. 12.
Bold Production Services provides customers across the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale with a fleet of more than 700 assets, including dehydration units, H2S treating units and total flow coolers.
Natural gas demand is expected to pick up over the next decade as power generation, LNG exports and data centers require more power. The Apollo Funds investment will support Bold’s growth as it continues to serve the growing natural gas sector, according to the press release.
Zelensky says no peace deal without Ukraine’s involvement
A day after President Trump said he would soon meet with Russian leader...
A day after President Trump said he would soon meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to broker an end to the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that the country will not accept any deal that’s negotiated without its participation. Trump suggested yesterday that Ukraine’s borders could be redrawn and its entry into NATO barred as part of the peace talks. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, seeking to stop Ukraine’s admission to NATO, challenging Ukraine’s legitimacy as a state, and making claims of territorial rights to Ukraine that were denounced by the West.
