US stocks gained ground on Friday as Wall Street reopened after the Juneteenth holiday, with investors balancing solid earnings from CarMax against rising geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East.The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to extend its weekly gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 159 points and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6% at initial minutes of trading. Used-car retailer CarMax was among the session’s top performers after reporting stronger-than-expected profits.According to the Associated Press, Treasury yields also edged higher after President Donald Trump said he would decide within two weeks whether the US military will join the Israel-Iran conflict. The news has kept traders on edge, with crude oil prices continuing to rise amid concerns about potential disruptions in global supply.US benchmark crude added 52 cents to $75.66 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 31 cents to $77.01. Iran is a major oil producer and controls the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a large portion of global crude flows.“The stock market’s risk premium isn’t just rising — it’s recalibrating for a world where every macro lever now doubles as a tripwire,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noting that markets are pricing in the uncertainty of Trump’s next move.In global markets, Europe saw a broad rally. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.4%, Paris’ CAC-40 rose 0.6%, and Germany’s DAX added 0.9%. Meanwhile, performance across Asia was mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.3% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei edged down 0.2% and Shanghai’s Composite Index slipped 0.2%.Earlier, Japan reported that core inflation climbed to 3.7% in May, exceeding expectations and adding pressure on the Bank of Japan, already contending with Trump’s tariffs. “For now, it’s more concerned about the risk that US trade policies could break the virtuous circle of wage growth and inflation,” said Min Joo Kang, economist at ING.The Bank of England also held its main interest rate at 4.25% on Thursday, citing risks of a broader regional escalation.In currency markets, the US dollar slipped to 145.37 yen, and the euro rose to $1.1516.
