Oil eases as Iran's Araghchi backs Hormuz plan

(AWP Alliance News) - Shares ended higher in New York on Friday after Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US had been presented with a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 478.64 points, 0.9%, at 51,828.62. The S&P 500 rose 39.28 points, 0.5%, to 7,743.41. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 129.34 points, 0.5%, at 27,068.72

"The US dollar's second week of straight gains to a near two-month high has come to a halt as softer oil prices and signs of US-Iran talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz ease inflation concerns. However, the greenback remains supported by expectations of tighter Fed policy as longer-dated US Treasury yields hit two-decade highs amid resilient US economic activity and heightened tensions in the Middle East, while the yen strengthens in the midst of renewed US-Japan intervention concerns", wrote IG Chief Technical Analyst Axel Rudolph.

"US stocks edge higher as a pause in surging Treasury yields eases pressure on corporate borrowing conditions, while falling oil prices provide further support after signs of progress towards a US-Iran agreement to ease Persian Gulf shipping blockades and economic restrictions on Tehran. AI stocks also advance as the broader market stabilises ahead of the weekend," Rudolph added.

A barrel of Brent fetched USD104.28 late Friday, down from USD107.30 on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate fell to USD92.30 from USD95.13.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was at 5.16% late Friday, down from 5.19% on Thursday. The 30-year yield rose to 5.49% from 5.48%

Against the dollar, the euro was at USD1.1398, up from USD1.1377 on Thursday. Sterling rose to USD1.3254 from USD1.3221. Against the yen, the dollar was at JPY157.21, down from JPY158.91.

Gold rose to USD4,293.31 an ounce from USD4,274.36.

Tehran has presented the US with a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, US media and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday.

"We have introduced a plan to the US through the intermediaries that if certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz would be open on the end of the seventh day and talks would restart," Araghchi told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly

He declined to elaborate on the conditions but said they were "nothing more" than what the two countries agreed to in June under their memorandum of understanding.

A White House official told CNN they were having "positive and constructive discussions through the mediators."

Chinese leader Xi Jinping left US President Donald Trump in good spirits as he departed from Washington on Friday, though the leaders made little headway in the signing of concrete agreements during Xi's three-day visit to the US.

No announcements were made regarding the key concerns of artificial intelligence or Taiwan, but the leaders did agree a two-month extension of the US-China tariff truce set to expire in November.

Trump said he discussed the stalled Iran war with Xi, and the two leaders confirmed that they would meet for a third and fourth time this year in China and the US.

Trump said the meeting was "one of Friendship, Strength, and Success, for both China and the USA," adding that: "We've made great strides, very positive for both countries."

On the data front, new orders for manufactured durable goods edged down by USD100 million to USD338.6 billion in August, the US Census Bureau showed on Friday. They had risen 0.9%, revised from 1.1%, in July. The FXStreet-cited consensus had forecast a 0.4% decrease.

Transportation equipment drove the overall decline, with orders falling in three of the past four months. Orders decreased by USD700 million, or 0.6%, to USD114.1 billion.

Separately, the University of Michigan said its US consumer confidence index fell to 48.1 points in September from 51.7 in August and 55.1 in September 2025, declines of 7.0% and 13%, respectively.

The index is at its four-month low and is 15% lower than in January 2026.

One-year consumer inflation expectations grew to 4.6% in September from 4% in August, while five-year inflation expectations edged up to 3.4% from their third month in a row at 3.3%.

Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu commented: "interviews reveal broad agreement across the political spectrum that the outlook for the economy has weakened since the beginning of the year. After particularly large declines in sentiment this month, Republican sentiment is now 20% lower than January 2026; Democrats are down 13% over the same period."

Fermi on Friday said it had selected CBRE Group to operate and maintain its first data centre at its Project Matador campus in Texas.

The data centre developer said the five-year agreement would make CBRE the exclusive operator and maintenance provider for 'building one', Fermi's first data centre at its Project Matador campus. The agreement can be renewed for further five-year terms.

Project Matador is Fermi's planned 17-gigawatt private power and artificial intelligence campus in the Texas Panhandle, near Amarillo. Fermi said CBRE would begin transition work once it receives notice to proceed, with site leaders arriving up to 120 days before building one is ready for service.

A jury in New Mexico on Friday found Facebook-owner Meta deceived users about privacy protections, in a case linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Cambridge Analytica was a political consulting firm that was found to have improperly harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users for targeted political advertising, particularly during the 2016 US election and Brexit referendum.

The verdict found the company liable for misrepresenting how personal data was shared with third-party applications.

"We disagree with the verdict and will continue to defend ourselves against efforts to distort our record," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

New Mexico's attorney general is seeking the maximum fine of USD5,000 for each violation, a sum that would reach into the billions of dollars.

Meta closed down 3.3% as investors took profits after a strong week.

Costco shares rose 2.9% on Friday after it said net income rose 15% on-year to USD3.00 billion in the 16 weeks to August 30. Total revenue rose 11% to USD95.72 billion, beating Zacks consensus of USD94.82 billion.

Diluted earnings per share climbed to USD6.75 from USD5.88 compared to consensus of USD6.48.

Costco said the fourth quarter was positively impacted by a non-recurring benefit of USD0.15 per diluted share from IEEPA tariff refunds received in the quarter, less partial reinvestment of those refunds in increased member values.

A US appeals court upheld on Friday the Pentagon's decision to exclude Anthropic from its supply chain, a decision taken when the AI startup refused to remove certain safeguards on its Claude model.

The conflict began in February when Anthropic refused Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth's demand to remove restrictions on the use of Claude for fully autonomous lethal weapons and mass domestic surveillance of Americans.

The supply chain risk designation, formally made in March, cancelled Anthropic's military contracts and barred other Pentagon contractors from using its technology.

UBS has restarted discussions about ways it could avoid potential heightened Swiss regulations as a new set of banking rules progresses through the country's parliament, Semafor reported on Friday.

The company is considering measures including a potential combination with a foreign bank, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

On Wednesday, Switzerland's upper house of parliament, the Council of States, voted in favour of the new regulations package, which will now move to the country's lower house, the National Council.

"If implemented, the proposed backing of foreign participations with 90% CET1 capital would require UBS to hold approximately USD16 billion of additional CET1 capital. This would come in addition to about USD2 billion of additional CET1 capital required at UBS as a result of the ordinance-level measures announced earlier this year," UBS said on Wednesday.

A final version of the law is expected to be agreed by both chambers in 2027, with potential for a public referendum to follow.

UBS closed up 2.5% in New York.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.1% in London. The CAC 40 ended marginally lower in Paris. The DAX 40 gained 0.6% in Frankfurt.

In Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.0%. The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.4% in Sydney. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo ended up 1.3%.

South Korean markets were closed for Chuseok and markets in mainland China were closed for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom [at] alliancenews.com

Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.