(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and company/political news from the first paragraph.)

US equity indexes rose amid gains in consumer discretionary and as crude oil prices extended declines to levels seen before the Iran war.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.3% to 25,428.3 after midday Friday. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% to 7,372.4, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3% to 52,049.7.

Technology and industrials led the four declining sectors intraday. Health care, consumer discretionary, and real estate were among the top gainers.

IBM's (IBM) technology capable of producing chips smaller than one nanometer represents a "major moment" for the semiconductor industry amid increasing artificial intelligence workloads, Wedbush Securities said in a note on Friday. IBM has created what it calls the "world's first sub-1 nanometer chip technology," the company said Thursday. IBM shares jumped 4.1%, making it the Dow's leader.

Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI is leaning toward delaying its initial public offering until next year, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing three people involved in the company's deliberations. The ChatGPT maker hired bankers and lawyers, eyeing an IPO as soon as Q3 or Q4, with CEO Sam Altman pushing for a $1 trillion valuation, according to the report. Shares of Microsoft advanced 5%, among the Dow's top gainers.

In geopolitical news, 115 vessels and 2,500 seafarers have been evacuated from the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday, said Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the UN's International Maritime Organization, according to a report from Al Jazeera.

The front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent fell 4.2% to $72.13 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate 3.9% to $69.11 per barrel, extending their declines to the lowest since the beginning of the Iran war.