NEW YORK: Global equity benchmarks struggled for direction while oil prices rallied near nine-month highs Friday as investors weighed hopes for a US coronavirus relief package against moves by the US government to add dozens of Chinese companies to a trade blacklist.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.97 points, or 0.02pc, to 30,297.4, the S&P 500 lost 2.08 points, or 0.06pc, to 3,720.4 and the Nasdaq Composite added 12.50 points, or 0.1pc, to 12,777.24. US benchmarks hit record highs on Thursday.

US crude rose 0.95pc to $48.82 per barrel and Brent was at $51.81, up 0.6pc on the day.-Reuters