Wall Street jumps to near one-month highs after US-Iran ceasefire

By Purvi Agarwal and Avinash P

April 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes climbed to adjacent one-month highs connected Wednesday aft the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, sending crude prices little connected expectations that vigor supplies done the ‌Strait of Hormuz could resume.

The announcement came hours earlier U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait ‌of Hormuz, with a elder Iranian authoritative saying the transition could beryllium opened this week up of bid talks if the countries agreed upon a model for the ceasefire.

However, ​there was immoderate alarm that warring was inactive raging crossed the region, with attacks connected Lebanon and Iran's neighbors.

Global markets, which had been reeling nether conflicting signals for weeks, staged a rally, with banal bourses successful Asia and Europe rising, portion crude prices slid beneath $100 a barrel.

"Even though determination is inactive uncertainty implicit however durable this ceasefire is, stocks tin determination higher adjacent without each of the details ironed out... conscionable the scent ‌of thawing tensions is enough," said Robert Edwards, ⁠chief concern officer, Edwards Asset Management.

At 11:30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average roseate 1,084.78 points, oregon 2.33%, to 47,669.24, the S&P 500 gained 140.76 points, oregon 2.13%, to 6,757.61 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 563.74 ⁠points, oregon 2.56%, to 22,581.59.

The small-cap Russell 2000 Index jumped 2.8% to a much than one-month high, portion the CBOE Volatility Index slumped 4.50 points to 21.28, aft hitting its lowest constituent since February 27.

The S&P 500 vigor assemblage was the lone 1 successful the red, down astir 4.6%. Exxon Mobil ​and ​Chevron dropped 5.6% each, and Occidental Petroleum mislaid 6.4%.

Travel-linked stocks jumped, with Southwest ​Airlines and United Airlines advancing 7.2% and 9.8%, respectively. ‌They boosted concern stocks connected the S&P 500 by 3.5%, the apical gainer among different sectors.

Cruise operators Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line added 10.8% and 8.7%, respectively.

The S&P 500 tech scale roseate 2.6%, helped by chip-linked stocks. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor scale concisely deed a grounds high, past up 5.3%.

"When you're looking to enactment wealth backmost to work, you're looking for stocks that did not perfectly crater and immoderate bigger ones similar AMD held up comparatively well," said Robert Pavlik, elder portfolio manager astatine Dakota Wealth.

The Dow was lifted by gains successful Goldman Sachs ‌and American Express.

Investors are awaiting home ostentation readings, expected aboriginal this week, to ​gauge whether the elevated crude prices during the warfare person added to terms pressures.