Trading on Wall Street exchanges was choppy yesterday after stocks reached levels last seen before the selloff driven by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, while climbing oil prices reflected continued questions about the chances of a peace deal.
A key Pakistani mediator made a breakthrough on ‘sticky issues’ in the conflict, a source said, but Iran warned the fate of its nuclear program had not been resolved.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social yesterday that Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5pm EST.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11pc to 48,518.06, the S&P 500 rose 0.24 per cent to 7,039.70, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.29pc to 24,084.48, from an earlier retreat. US stocks had hit fresh records on Wednesday. European stocks have recovered more slowly, and the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.03pc yesterday.
“The market moves over the past few days are more sentiment-based than fundamentally driven. We are still waiting for earnings reports, and the economic data does not really justify the high degree of enthusiasm,” said Melissa Brown, managing director of investment decision research at SimCorp.
The earnings season gathered pace, with US beverages giant PepsiCo gaining 2pc after beating quarterly profit estimates. Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories, financial firm Charles Schwab and insurer Travelers all fell after reporting results.
Oil prices climbed after earlier falling on hopes of a resolution to the Middle East conflict. Trading was volatile on Wednesday when a source briefed by Tehran told Reuters Iran could consider allowing safe passage through part of the Strait of Hormuz as part of its negotiations with the United States.
US crude was last up 2.29pc to $93.38 a barrel and Brent rose to $98.04 per barrel, up 3.31pc on the day.
“We remain sceptical of any immediate solving of this war,” said PVM oil market analyst John Evans. “Pick any headline and there is always a counter.”
The US dollar rose, retracing some of its recent losses, afterdata showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits were lower than expected last week. The index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.23pc to 98.23. The index had declined for eight straight sessions through Wednesday, giving up most of the gains it had enjoyed as the war increased its appeal as a safe haven.
In China, forecast-beating data showing that strong exports helped its giant economy grow 5pc in the first quarter saw Chinese stocks rise over 1pc and nudged the yuan to near a three-year high of 6.8152 per dollar in the offshore markets .
Gold prices held steady as investors weighed whether any easing in tensions between the US and Iran would lead to rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, in turn bolstering precious metals valuations.
Spot gold rose 0.26pc to $4,802.59 an ounce. US gold futures rose 0.08pc to $4,803.70 an ounce. Higher energy prices as a result of the Iran war sapped expectations of interest rate cuts, weighing on prices for gold, which does not generate interest income.
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