Week Ahead: Will Trump Strike Iran Before Midterms? CPI Data Awaited

By Rob Curran U.S. stocks rose after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would not strike Iran before the mid-term elections, quelling concerns about an escalation of the Middle East war and related energy-market chaos. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 423.31 points, or 0.83%, to 51654.95. The S&P 500 rose 46.18 points, or 0.59%, to 7811.54, closing near all-time highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 172.83 points, or 0.64%, to 27366.17. Oil futures gained 36 cents or 0.4%, to $91.85 a barrel in New York. Oil traders said Hurricane Isaias would present a challenge to energy markets already under-supplied because of the Iran war. Diesel futures fell after Trump said Russia would sell hundreds of thousands of tons of the fuel to the U.S. in the coming months, part of an effort to address the struggles of farmers and truckers. Treasury yields were mixed, but remained near their recent highs as inflation and Federal Reserve policy worries lingered. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up 0.011 percentage point to 5.243%, closing within seven basis points of a multidecade high. The yield on the 30-year bond ticked down 0.01 percentage point to close at 5.598%. The yield on the two-year Treasury rose 0.036 percentage point to 4.789%. Trump said he was convening a White House committee to review allegations of mortgage fraud against Fed governor Lisa Cook, calling for a Nov. 5 hearing. Former Fed Chair Jerome Powell has highlighted the case as a threat to central-bank independence. The University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment survey produced gloomy findings, with the index falling to 46.3 in its preliminary October reading, versus 48.1 in September. Shares of Delta Air Lines fell 3 cents to $82.17 after the Atlanta carrier cut its earnings growth projections for the year, citing persistently high fuel prices. Resilient demand, particularly from wealthy travelers, partially offset the impact of the higher costs, said Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian. The U.S. dollar ticked up against rivals. Gold futures rose 1.4% to $4191 a troy ounce as traders adjusted positions on interest-rate sensitive investments. Cell-phone carriers slid after Elon Musk's SpaceX made a significant step toward entering the industry. The rocketry firm agreed to buy wireless spectrum from investment firm Grain Management for about $8 billion. T-Mobile US plunged 13% to $148.5. AT&T fell 9.8% to $22.18. Verizon slid 8.7% to $41.65. BP temporarily curbed production and removed all personnel from its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in preparation for Hurricane Isaias. Fears about artificial-intelligence profits moderated as Wall Street analysts said a reduced revenue estimate from OpenAI could reflect technical accounting issues. The PHLX "SOX" Semiconductor Sector index fell 0.4%. Shares of health insurer Humana surged 12% to $431.87 after the company said 95% of its Medicare Advantage members were enrolled in plans