Wall Street sets another record after stocks rise

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market ticked to another record high Thursday as Wall Street waits for more clues about what will happen in the Iran war before making its next big move.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, a day after topping its prior all-time high set in January, for its 11th gain in 12 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%.

U.S. stocks have leaped more than 10% since hitting a low in late March, driven by hopes for an end to the war or something that could avert a worst-case scenario for the global economy. Now, the wait is on to see if such hopes were prescient or just wishful thinking.

Pakistan’s powerful army chief met Thursday with Iran’s parliament speaker as part of efforts to press for an extension to a ceasefire that has paused almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the U.S. and the Islamic Republic.

Oil prices climbed, showing that caution still remains in financial markets. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 4.7% to settle at $99.39. It’s gone from roughly $70 before the war to as high as $119 at times on uncertainty about how long the war will keep oil stuck in the Persian Gulf area and away from customers.

QVC preparing for bankruptcy protection

NEW YORK — The owner of home shopping network pioneer QVC — which for years garnered the attention of millions of TV viewers looking for a deal on baubles and housewares, is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A filing about imminent bankruptcy protection by parent company QVC Group, which also owns HSN, formerly the Home Shopping Network, arrives as long-running TV shopping networks struggle to adapt to the rapid shift by consumers now tuning in to livestreams on TikTok, or online marketplaces like Shein.

According to an annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, the company said that it intends to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after reaching a restructuring agreement with creditors.

Its goal is to emerge from bankruptcy protection before the summer is over, but the West Chester, Pennsylvania, company warned that its access to funding is difficult to predict. It noted significant fees and other costs in connection with the preparation for the bankruptcy protection.

“We cannot assure that cash on hand, cash flow from operations will be sufficient to continue to fund our operations,” it wrote.

U.S. jobless claims fall despite uncertainty

WASHINGTON — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining in the range of the past few years even as the war in Iran continues to threaten the global economy.

The number of Americans applying for jobless aid for the week ending April 11 fell by 11,000 to 207,000 from the previous week’s 218,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s less than the 217,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting but within the range of the past several years.

Filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. The Iran war, now in its seventh week, has injected a large degree of uncertainty about how it will affect the U.S. and global economies even as Iran and the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire last week.

U.S. financial markets have rebounded in recent weeks and oil prices have settled in around $92 per barrel, better than last week’s $112 but still 37% higher than before the war began. Gas prices also remain elevated, saddling businesses and consumers with higher costs.

– Press Democrat news services