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Street finishes record week with gains, others indecisive

By The Associated Press 3 min read

NEW YORK -- The U.S. stock market finished its record-setting week with gains on Friday, even as other financial markets remained indecisive.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% for its first gain since setting its all-time high three days earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 423 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%.

The strength came as oil prices continued to yo-yo because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal. The price for a barrel of Brent crude bounced between $102.50 and $105 before settling at $104.72, up 0.4%.

Treasury yields flipped up and down in the bond market following their own sharp moves earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eventually climbed to 5.24% from 5.22% late Thursday.

It recently touched its highest level since 2002 because of worries about high inflation, the U.S. government's massive debt load, signals that the U.S. economy is continuing to grow and other factors. High yields threaten to slow the economy by making borrowing money more expensive for everyone, and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has already leaped to its highest level in nearly three years.

Yields are also shooting higher in other bond markets around the world, which makes investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments. But the high yields have attracted investors to recent auctions of Treasurys, and that demand is helping to limit further increases for yields.

On Wall Street, Humana rallied 11.6% and helped lift the U.S. stock market despite the swings in the oil and bond markets. The insurer said it received encouraging data about its quality ratings versus its competitors for Medicare Advantage plans.

Companies that own cell towers were also at the front of the market, including leaps of 15.6% for Crown Castle and 9.3% for American Tower.

They rallied after SpaceX announced a purchase that could help it become a major mobile carrier in the United States. It still needs to get approval from U.S. regulators, but SpaceX said the purchase of low-band spectrum would allow its Starlink Mobile business to have a signal that can penetrate walls and connect customers inside buildings who may not be able to access its satellites. SpaceX's stock added 1.2%.

The threat of another big competitor sent stocks lower across the wireless industry, including drops of 13.3% for T-Mobile US, 9.8% for AT&T and 8.7% for Verizon.

Delta Air Lines erased an early loss and eked out a tiny gain of less than 0.1% after reporting profit and revenue for the summer that was slightly weaker than analysts expected. CEO Ed Bastian said demand remains strong and customers want to fly, but the airline is also having to absorb a $6 billion increase in fuel costs this year.

The pressure is on companies broadly to deliver strong growth in profits after their stock prices ran toward records despite the downward push from high bond yields. Next week will bring high-profile profit reports from the country's biggest banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all on Tuesday.

Starting at /week.