Wall Street, global markets mostly lower and oil prices drop $2 on hopes for a US-Iran nuclear deal

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and MATT OTT Associated Press Business Writers Wall Street veered lower before the opening bell Thursday and oil prices fell more than a barrel as optimism over a workable U S -Iran nuclear deal rose Futures for the S P and Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell Nasdaq futures dipped President Donald Trump visiting Qatar as part of a three-country Middle East tour has urged the nation to use its influence with Iran to persuade its leadership to dial back its rapidly advancing nuclear plan A deal would help pave the way to ease sanctions against Tehran U S benchmark crude oil lost to per barrel Brent crude the international standard gave up to per barrel Oil prices surged early this week after China and the U S publicized an agreement to scale back painfully high tariffs each has imposed on the other for days But they ve since retreated after the U S Potency Administration published relatively high crude oil stockpiles that could lead to an oversupply In equities markets Walmart shares rose after it announced strong sales but a decline in first quarter profit and disclosed it has to raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs Like a multitude of other U S companies Walmart did not issue a profit outlook for the quarter because of the chaotic atmosphere around rapidly changing U S deal program The company maintained its full-year guidance issued in February Foot Locker shares nearly doubled after Dick s Sporting Goods announced it was buying the struggling footwear chain for about billion It s the second buyout of a major footwear company in as countless weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over how Trump s tariffs will impact companies that make plenty of of their products overseas Last week Skechers informed that it was being taken private by G Capital for billion Dick s revealed Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands which include Kids Foot Locker Champs Sports WSS and the Japanese sneaker brand atmos Foot Locker shares soared more than to before the bell Dick s fell Elsewhere China moved to reverse a few of its non-tariff measures against the U S as agreed with Washington in their temporary transaction war cease-fire while demanding that the U S side directly correct its wrong practices A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson accused the Trump administration of violating world commerce rules by announcing that use of Ascend computer chips made by China s Huawei Technologies violates U S export controls Japan s Nikkei index dropped to Computer chip-related stocks were among the biggest decliners with Disco Corp falling and Advantest down Hong Kong s Hang Seng dropped to while the Shanghai Composite index lost to Taiwan s Taiex fell while India s Sensex rebounded to gain In Australia the S P ASX edged higher to South Korea s Kospi gave up to European markets are mixed at midday with Germany s DAX shedding while the CAC in Paris fell Britain s FTSE was up On Thursday the leadership will release its April record for inflation at the wholesale level as well as for retail sales and weekly jobless proposes The latest retail figures is expected to reflect a meager sales increase in April down significantly from a gain the previous month The stock realm has been relatively steady since surging Monday after the U S and China publicized a -day pause in their business war The area gained more ground on Tuesday after the executive released that inflation unexpectedly cooled across the country in April Trump has delayed a large swath of his most of severe tariffs against America s trading partners but a few import taxes remain in place Uncertainty over the path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers The on-again-off-again nature of Trump s contract protocol has left companies reluctant to make plans about expenditure and hiring and consumers nervous about spending Businesses continue to trim or withdraw their financial forecasts as they face unpredictable arrangement approach and cautious consumers More than of companies in the S P have revealed earnings for their latest quarter and bulk broadcasted better-than-expected earnings But they have cut or scrapped forecasts for the current quarter and even the full year