Kuala Lampur, May 1 -- NEW YORK, May 1 - Oil prices struck a four-year high yesterday on worries about a resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, before slumping to end the day.

But key US indices hit new records while European stock markets rose on positive earnings reports from some tech firms.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 jumped 1.0 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.9 percent, both reaching all-time highs.

This came on the back of optimism surrounding corporate earnings and still-resilient US economic growth.

"A lot of that comes down to corporate profits," said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones.

He added that US GDP data "continues to defy fears of a near-term slowdown," helping to propel stocks to new ...