Stocks advanced Friday as concerns over the durability of the artificial-intelligence boom eased and investors turned toward the start of third-quarter earnings season. Indexes finished higher on the day. The rally came despite elevated oil prices, high Treasury yields and continued uncertainty over the cost of financing AI infrastructure.
The announcement followed a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and represented a sharp reversal from recent U.S.
The Treasury Department issued a temporary license allowing qualifying Russian diesel shipments to proceed, with sanctions not applying to fuel loaded onto tankers by Oct. 9 until April 2027. The White House did not immediately specify who would pay for the fuel or when it would become available. Russia said it was prepared to supply oil and petroleum products to U.S.
The agreement drew criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and lawmakers in both parties. Zelenskyy said the arrangement could help Russia prolong its war, while Democratic senators called it a betrayal of Ukraine and a departure from the sanctions law Trump signed the previous month.
The fuel announcement produced only a limited market response. Diesel futures fell initially, but the U.S. Russia has struggled to meet domestic demand after repeated attacks on its refineries, and its diesel output has fallen about 30%, making the scale and timing of the proposed shipments uncertain. The temporary license also does not establish how much fuel will reach U.S.