Wall Street is largely unchanged and oil prices rose modestly Wednesday as mediators attempt to extend a ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
Futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq all fell less than 0.1% before the opening bell. Despite the ongoing global economic uncertainty caused by the conflict, the Nasdaq has closed higher in the past 10 trading sessions while the S&P has finished with gains in nine out
of the last 10 days.
The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed threats from Tehran have imperiled the week-old ceasefire, but regional officials said Wednesday that they were making progress, telling The Associated Press that the U.S. and Iran have an agreement “in principle” to extend the truce to allow for more diplomacy.
The two-week ceasefire expires next Wednesday.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.03 to $92.31 a barrel. Brent crude gained $1.23 to $96.02. A barrel of oil was going for roughly $70 before the war began in late February, but it's trading well below its recent peak of $119.
Lower oil prices help bring down costs for all kinds of businesses. But some analysts noted the war was still ongoing, warning that the optimism may be unfounded.
“The counterintuitive decline in crude appears driven by growing hopes that a second round of peace talks between Washington and Tehran could soon materialize, after the first attempt fizzled out. Traders are clearly choosing to price in the possibility of de-escalation rather than the immediate reality of restricted flows,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Hopes are rising for renewed talks between the U.S. and Iran after President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days.” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said it’s “highly probable” that talks will restart.
In corporate news, Bank of America rose 1% after it beat Wall Street's first-quarter profit and revenue projections.
Nike rose 2.8% after CEO Elliott Smith and Tim Cook — a Nike director and the CEO of Apple — disclosed that they purchased a combined 48,000 shares of the athletic shoe maker at a cost of about $1 million each. Nike shares are still down close to 30% this year.
Asian shares mostly rose Wednesday, echoing the rally on Wall Street a day earlier.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% to finish at 58,134.24. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 8,978.70. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.1% to 6,091.39. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.3% to 25,947.32, while the Shanghai Composite added less than 0.1% to 4,027.21.
Asian nations depend on access to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that’s the main avenue for crude oil produced in the Persian Gulf area to reach customers worldwide. Blockages there have kept oil off the global market, which has in turn driven up its price.
Global inflation this year looks set to accelerate to 4.4% from 4.1% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which had earlier thought inflation would slow to 3.8%. The IMF on Tuesday also downgraded its forecast for global economic growth to 3.1% this year from the 3.3% it had forecast in January.
France's CAC 40 dipped 0.6% at midday, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched up less than 0.2%. Germany's DAX was unchanged.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
