Stocks mixed, day after AI-related selloff; oil prices rise again

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Marc Jones

NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Stock indexes were mixed on Friday, with tech shares edging higher after the previous day's selloff, while Brent crude oil rose to its highest in more than five months after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia.

The Nasdaq was up 0.2% after starting the day lower, while the Dow was last down about 1%.

An index of semiconductors was up about 1%. It posted its biggest daily percentage drop since June on Thursday after a report from Meta Platforms reignited worries about the AI trade.

It's been "a very volatile week," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth in Boston.

"After Meta's report, there's still anxiety over the AI trade to a certain extent," he said. "But also, we continue to be in a place where things look like they're getting worse, not better, in the Middle East. That moves energy prices higher, which is obviously going to end up being a significant headwind for economic activity."

Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia fanned fears over further disruption to energy supplies from the Middle East, where United Arab Emirates authorities also reported an oil spill.

US crude rose 2.56% to $102.02 a barrel and Brent climbed to $116.27 per barrel, up 2.74%. European natural gas prices jumped. 

AMEX, TELECOM SHARES FALL

Investors were digesting corporate earnings news. American Express shares fell 3.5% after it reported results and its CEO said the company had good momentum, but needed to become a more "agile and efficient" organization.

Telecom company shares, including Verizon, dropped after a Bloomberg News report that SpaceX was in talks with cellular infrastructure companies about launching a US wireless carrier program.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 476.25 points, or 0.9%, to 52,391.73, the S&P 500 eased 11.14 points, or 0.14%, to 7,652.96 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 52.51 points, or 0.21%, to 26,062.75.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 1.64 points, or 0.15%, to 1,121.29.The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.4%.

Asia's bourses steadied overnight, with South Korea's KOSPI ending its session higher after shedding as much as 4% earlier. [.T]

US Treasury yields rose a day after the benchmark 10-year yield registered its biggest one-day drop in nearly four years, but remained under 5%.

The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note was last up 3.7 basis points at 4.992%. The 10-year yield is down about 11 basis points on the week and on pace for a third straight week of declines, its longest run lower since June.

EURO FALLS

The euro fell and was on track for a weekly loss against both the US dollar and the yen, while euro zone bonds stabilized after recent volatility. Investors' focus has been on concerns over France's finances.

French yields, which were down 5 basis points at 5.04%, have risen nearly 27 bps this week, the most of any major euro zone country and the most in a week since late May. 

A selloff in French government bonds this week pushed the country's debt risk premium to its highest level since the euro zone sovereign debt crisis in 2011.

France will deploy 70,000 police backed by specialist units for protests on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. The country faces the threat of a rating downgrade by Moody’s later on Friday.

The euro was last down 0.12% at $1.12, set to end the week 0.35% lower. 

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Marc Jones in London; Additional reporting by Stella Qiu in Sydney; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Rod Nickel)