The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed to record levels on Thursday as crude oil prices continued to retreat, fueled by optimism surrounding a potential peace agreement between the US and Iran.
At 09:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 192.59 points, or 0.39%, to 50,091.92, the S&P 500 rose 6.38 points, or 0.09%, to 7,374.11 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 40.33 points, or 0.16%, to 25,879.28.
The United States currently awaits Tehran’s response to a proposed deal aimed at concluding hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime artery for global petroleum transport.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said: “We expect an agreement sooner rather than later.” Pakistan has been acting as a mediator between the United States and Iran.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped another 3.8% to $97.38 per barrel, a sharp decline from the $115 peak seen earlier this week.
Although fuel costs remain elevated compared to pre-war levels, market sentiment has turned bullish as Iran reviews Washington’s latest proposals to end the conflict.
Domestic economic data provided a mixed backdrop. While unemployment benefit applications rose last week, the figures were less severe than economists had anticipated. Conversely, a separate report indicated that US labor productivity growth was only half of the forecasted rate for the previous quarter.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.33% from 4.36% late on Wednesday.
Key Stock Movers
DoorDash stock rose 3.09% following a robust quarterly performance, while cloud security firm Datadog shares rallied 33.6% after exceeding profit estimates.
Shares of utility provider Vistra gained 4.6% and McDonald’s edged up 0.6% as revenues slightly surpassed analyst expectations.
In contrast, Whirlpool shares plummeted 12.4% after the company disclosed an $85 million loss driven by weakening sales volumes.
