Stocks hit record on hopes of US-Iran peace deal, but doubts lift oil
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NEW YORK, April 16 : Global stocks rose to a record on Thursday as the prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon boosted sentiment, but concerns over the likelihood of a deal to loosen the chokehold on Middle Eastern energy supplies boosted oil prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Lebanon and Israel had agreed on a 10-day ceasefire and said the next meeting between the United States and Iran may take place over the weekend.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday that Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT).
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks advanced, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hitting intraday records, with the S&P 500 energy index the best performing of the 11 major S&P sectors.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.75 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 48,542.75, the S&P 500 rose 8.69 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 7,031.57 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 41.33 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 24,057.35.
"The war is still the single most important driver of the market. It would be very unusual for us to break through to new all-time highs like we did yesterday and not stall here and probably go back and retest," Robert Phipps, a director at Per Stirling Capital Management in Austin, Texas.
"The rubber band was very stretched to the downside. It has snapped back and is no longer stretched to the downside. That rebound rally is probably over and now the market needs to start trading on its own fundamentals."
As earnings season picked up steam, U.S. beverages giant PepsiCo gaining 1.5 per cent after beating quarterly profit estimates. Healthcare company Abbott Laboratories, financial firm Charles Schwab and Dow component Travelers all fell after reporting results.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.36 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 1,063.29 while the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.05 per cent.
OIL MARKETS SKEPTICAL
Oil prices climbed after earlier falling on hopes of a resolution to the Middle East conflict.
U.S. crude settled up 3.72 per cent to $94.69 a barrel and Brent settled at $99.39 per barrel, up 4.7 per cent on the day.
The U.S. dollar rose, retracing some of its recent losses, after data showed weekly initial jobless claims were lower than expected last week. The index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.22 per cent to 98.22.
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.
Gold prices were little changed as investors weighed whether any easing in tensions between the U.S. and Iran would lead to rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Spot gold edged up 0.01 per cent to $4,790.57 an ounce while U.S. gold futures advanced 0.08 per cent to $4,803.70 an ounce.
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