Friday's early afternoon trade: Dow set to snap 8-day losing run as oil climbs

US stocks rose on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average looking to snap its 8-day losing streak, powered by a surge in oil prices, but losses in technology stocks curbed some gains. The benchmark Brent crude jumped $1.83 to $74.88 a barrel, following three days of losses, after Opec agreed to modest crude output increases to compensate for losses in production at a time of rising global demand.
Exxon Mobil rose 2.4 percent and Chevron gained 2.7 percent, lending the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Dow. The S&P energy index was up 2.9 percent, eyeing its best day in nearly a month. A recent rally in oil prices due to an Opec decision to restrict supply in an effort to drain global inventories, has helped S&P energy be the best performing S&P sector in the last three months.
US President Donald Trump, in his latest move, threatened to impose a 20 percent tariff on all European Union car imports, a month after the administration launched a probe into whether auto imports pose a threat to national security. Harley-Davidson fell 2.6 percent. The US bike maker has in the past warned of a "significant impact" on its sales if the European Union decides to increase duties on motorcycles in retaliation.
At 12:47 am EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 168.33 points, or 0.69 percent, at 24,630.03, the S&P 500 was up 10.92 points, or 0.40 percent, at 2,760.68 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 9.71 points, or 0.13 percent, at 7,703.24.
The gains were broad-based with 10 of the 11 main S&P sectors higher. The technology sector was the only one in the red, down 0.3 percent. Microsoft's 0.8 percent decline and Nvidia's 1.9 percent fall also weighed.