Investors Begin May Upbeat

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Luke Vargas· Host0:14

[instrumental music] Here is your morning brief for Friday, May first. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. Investors are kicking off May on an optimistic note with US stock futures holding on to recent gains and oil prices relatively steady. Both the S&P five hundred and NASDAQ finished April with their largest monthly gain since twenty-twenty as investors looked past the war in Iran and focused instead on earnings. Apple is the latest company to add fuel to that rally after reporting stronger than expected sales, sending its shares up three percent pre-market. Even still, the conflict in the Middle East still looms over markets. Oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil will report earnings before the opening bell, and readings on manufacturing activity are due shortly after the open. Meanwhile, Venezuela is open for business. Just months ago, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips deemed Venezuela too risky, but we exclusively report that they are now pitching their plans to revive the country's rundown oil fields. Engineers, lawyers, and other representatives from the energy sector and US government have been flocking to the Caracas Marriott, now a makeshift American embassy, to meet with acting president Delcy Rodriguez. And President