04:09 PM EDT, 04/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets ended mixed Friday as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were weighed down by a post-earnings selloff in Netflix ( NFLX ) .

* Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said progress made by the Federal Reserve in easing inflationary pressures has "stalled," and it "makes sense" to extend the pause rather than cut interest rates.

* Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran with explosions heard in the city of Isfahan. Iran said its nuclear site is "completely safe" as it shut airspace over the western part of the country and its capital. Israel's drone operation was relatively limited in scale and didn't cause much damage.

* May West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $0.54 to $83.27 a barrel, while June Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $0.15 to $87.26 after Israel launched a retaliatory attack on Iran.

* American Express ( AXP ) rose 6.2% after the company reported higher-than-expected Q1 results.

* Apple ( AAPL ) removed Meta Platforms' ( META ) WhatsApp and Threads from its China App Store after being ordered by the Chinese government, news outlets reported. The government issued the order on national security grounds, the news outlets reported, citing statements from Apple ( AAPL ). Shares of the iPhone maker fell 1.2% while Meta slumped 4.1%.