NEW YORK, May 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks surged for the week, as U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal sent oil prices sharply higher while tamed inflation data eased concerns about the pace of the U.S. central bank's tightening strategy.
Trump said Tuesday that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a landmark international agreement signed in 2015.
In a televised speech, Trump announced the exit, adding he will not sign the waiver of nuke-related sanctions against Iran.
Trump repeated his tough stance on the deal, saying it had failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supporting terrorism in the region.
Following Trump's decision, oil prices climbed to their highest levels in about three and a half years, with U.S. oil trading firmly above 70 dollars a barrel, which was last seen in November 2014, as traders bet the United States' sanctions on Iran would reduce global crude supplies.
As a result, the energy sector surged about 4 percent for the week, leading the advancers among the S&P 500's 11 sectors.
On the economic front, the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.2 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, missing the market consensus of 0.3 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent in April, also below market estimates of a 0.2-percent gain.
Some analysts believed that the Federal Reserve won't become more aggressive after the release of tamed inflation data.
On other economic news, the Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.1 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, missing market consensus of a 0.3-percent gain.
The number of job openings increased to 6.6 million on the last business day of March, beating market consensus of 6.1 million.
In the week ending May 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 211,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised level.
The four-week moving average was 216,000, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 221,500. This is the lowest level for this average since Dec. 20, 1969, when it was 214,500.
U.S. import prices increased 0.3 percent in April, below market consensus of 0.5 percent, while prices for U.S. exports rose 0.6 percent in April, beating market estimates of a 0.3 percent gain.
The preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment remained unchanged at 98.8 in May from the April reading, generally in line with market expectations.
For the week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surging 2.3 percent, 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.
