Financial Markets                      12/17 09:27

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady on Wednesday, 
while the price of oil claws back some of this year's sharp slide.

   The S&P 500 was nearly unchanged in morning trading, coming off its third 
straight drop, though it remains near its all-time high. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average was up 219 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, 
and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.

   The majority of stocks across Wall Street rose, and some of the strongest 
gains came from oil companies after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade 
of all "sanctioned oil tankers" into Venezuela. It's Trump's latest escalation 
in pressure on Venezuela, which may be sitting on more oil than any other 
country.

   That sent the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude higher by 1.6% to 
$56.02, just a day after it sank to its lowest level since 2021. Brent crude, 
the international standard, climbed 1.5% to $59.78 per barrel.

   That helped ConocoPhillips rise 2.6% and cut into its loss for the year so 
far, which came into the day at 8.5%. Devon Energy rallied 3.5%, and 
Halliburton added 1.6%. Oil prices had dropped through most of this year on 
expectations that companies are pumping more than enough crude to meet the 
world's demand.

   Also near the head of the market was Jabil, which jumped 5.9% after 
reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected. CEO Mike Dastoor credited growth coming from accelerating demand 
related to cloud, data center infrastructure and other markets, while boosting 
Jabil's forecasts for revenue and other financial measures for its fiscal year.

   Netflix climbed 2.7% after Warner Bros. Discovery's board said it still 
recommends shareholders approve a buyout offer for its Warner Bros. business 
from the streaming giant, rather than a competing hostile bid from Paramount 
Skydance for the entire company.

   Warner Bros. Discovery slipped 0.4%, while Paramount Skydance fell 4.7%.

   The mostly calm movements for the U.S. stock market came even as several 
stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry continued to drop. Questions 
continue to dog them about a possible bubble and whether all the investment in 
AI will produce enough profit and productivity to make them worth it.

   Oracle fell 4.5%, while CoreWeave sank 3.4%. Nvidia, the chip company that's 
become Wall Street's most influential stock because of its tremendous size, 
fell 2.1%.

   Also on the losing end of Wall Street was Lennar, which sank 3.6% following 
a mixed profit report. The homebuilder delivered a weaker profit for the latest 
quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue topped expectations.

   Executive Chairman Stuart Miller also said that conditions remain 
challenging for the industry, with customers feeling less confident while 
looking for discounts and more affordable options. As a result, the company 
gave limited forecasts for its upcoming financial performance.

   Progressive, meanwhile, sank 3.3% after the insurer based in Mayfield 
Village, Ohio, said that its net income for November fell 5% from its year-ago 
level.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of a report 
coming on Thursday that will show how bad inflation has been for U.S. consumers.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.15%, where it was late Tuesday.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger 
finish in Asia.

   South Korea's Kospi leaped 1.4% for one of the world's bigger gains and 
shaved its loss for the week so far down to 2.7%.

   ___

   AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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