Optimism About U.S.-Iran Talks May Lead To Continued Strength On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open on Thursday, with stocks likely to extend the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions.

The markets may continue to benefit from recent upward momentum, which helped lift the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs on Wednesday.

Traders continue to express optimism about a second round of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, although a new meeting has not been officially announced.

According to reports, the warring nations are considering extending the ceasefire by two weeks in order to allow more time for talks.

“It’s like the events of the past month-and-a-half have been placed in the rearview mirror by investors,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

He added, “The market’s sanguine perspective may be tested if the rhetoric about an end to the fighting isn’t matched by reality sooner rather than later.”

The futures edged higher following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected in the week ended April 11th.

Following the rally seen to start the week, stocks showed another strong move to the upside during trading on Wednesday. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 376.93 points or 1.6 percent to 24,016.02 and the S&P 500 advanced 55.57 points or 0.8 percent to 7,022.95, although the narrower bucked the uptrend and dipped 72.27 points or 0.2 percent to 48,463.72.

The extended surge by the Nasdaq partly reflected strength among tech stocks, with Broadcom (AVGO) helping to lead the sector higher.

Shares of Broadcom spiked by 4.2 percent after the chip maker announced a multi-year, multi-generation strategic partnership to support Meta’s (META) rapidly scaling artificial intelligence compute infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the modest pullback by the Dow partly reflected a steep decline by shares of Caterpillar (CAT), with the construction equipment maker tumbling by 3.0 percent.

Traders also continued to express optimism about an resolution of the conflict in the Middle East even as they await additional details about another round of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.

In an interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump expressed confidence the war is “very close to over” and reiterated his claim that Iran wants to make a deal “very badly.”

Trump also predicted that the “stock market is going to boom” when the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran is finally over.

Software stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index surging by 4.6 percent.

Considerable strength was also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.

On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply lower amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.1 percent.

A report showing a bigger than expected deterioration in homebuilder confidence also weighed on housing stocks, resulting in a 2.0 percent slump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are climbing $0.46 to $91.75 a barrel after inching up $0.01 to $91.29 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after falling $26.50 to $4,823.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $14.40 to $4,838 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.07 yen versus the 158.97 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1782 compared to yesterday’s $1.1798.

Asia

Asian stocks recorded strong gains on Thursday as markets increased expectations of a deal to end the U.S.-Iran conflict. AI-led demand also boosted stocks in the tech space.

Amidst better-than-expected GDP readings, stocks in China finished trading on a positive note. China’s economy expanded 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, versus 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter and beating market forecasts of 4.8 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.7 percent to finish trading at a four-week high of 4,055.55. The day’s trading ranged between 4,028.91 and 4,057.83. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 14,796.33, jumping 2.1 percent from the previous close.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 225 Index jumped or 2.4 percent to close trading at a record high of 59,518.34 amidst renewed optimism surrounding an end to the middle East conflict. The day’s trading ranged between 59,688.10 and 58,428.19.

TDK Corp. soared 13 percent followed by Trend Micro that rallied close to 10 percent. Komatsu, Kubota Corp. and BayCurrent Consulting all saw prices decrease more than 5 percent.

The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shot up 1.7 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 26,394.26. The day’s trading range was between a high of 26,128.67 and a low of 26,403.07.

The Korean Stock Exchange’s Kospi Index gained or 2.2 percent from the previous close to close trading at 6,226.05. The day’s trading range was between 6,126.06 and 6,231.03.

Australia’s S&P/ASX200 Index closed trading at 8,955.00, dipping 0.3 percent from the previous close of 8,978.70 amidst renewed concerns about inflation. The day’s trading ranged between 8,937.30 and 9,017.20.

Life360 and Wisetech Global both led gains with a surge of 12.4 percent, while Reece and Newmont Corporation both declined more than 5 percent.

The NZX 50 Index of the New Zealand Stock Exchange edged down 0.1 percent to close trading at 13,066.06. The day’s trading ranged between 13,045.45 and 13,162.28.

Fonterra Shareholders Funds topped gains with a surge of 7.1 percent. Synlait Milk followed with gains of 4.8 percent. Kiwi Property led losses with a decline of 3.2 percent, followed by Ryman Healthcare that shed 2.8 percent.

Europe

European stocks have moved modestly higher on Thursday amid optimism upcoming talks between officials from Iran and the U.S. will result in a potential resolution to the Middle East conflict.

According to reports, the warring nations are considering extending the ceasefire by two weeks in order to allow more time for talks.

Investors also digested corporate earnings updates and the latest batch of economic data from the region.

While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.7 percent.

In the German market, Zalando moved up 3.2 percent. SAP gained about 2.3 percent and Brenntag climbed nearly 2 percent. Beiersdorf, MTU Aero Engines and Heidelberg Materials gained 1 percent-1.3 percent.

Qiagen, Merck, Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Truck Holding, BMW and Volkswagen lost 0.5 percent-1.6 percent.

In Paris, Dassault Systemes moved 2.2 percent up. Capgemini, Teleperformance, Saint-Gobain, Airbus, Publicis Groupe and Michelin gained 1.2 percent-2 percent.

Kering drifted down 1.7 percent. L’Oreal, ArcelorMittal, TotalEnergies and Engie also showed weakness.

In the U.K., Entain jumped 7.5 percent, thanks to the company maintaining its revenue outlook. Halma, B&M European Value Retail, Vistry Group, Frasers Group, JD Sports Fashion, Pershing Square Holdings, RightMove and Persimmon gained 2 percent-3.5 percent.

Tesco moved up sharply after the company reported strong sales and profit growth, and announced a 500 million pound buyback.

EasyJet dropped by about 5 percent amid uncertain situation in the Middle East. Airtel Africa, Convatec Group, Unite Group, Vodafone and Antofagasta lost 1.6 percent-2 percent.

In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the U.K.’s gross domestic product logged monthly growth of 0.5 percent in February, outpacing the 0.1 percent expansion in January.

Economists had forecast the growth to remain unchanged at 0.1 percent. Compared to the same period last year, GDP advanced 1 percent in February.

On the production-side, the dominant service sector expanded 0.5 percent and construction output advanced 1 percent in February.

Industrial production grew 0.5 percent, following successive falls of 0.1 percent in January and a 0.4 percent drop in December. Meanwhile, manufacturing output edged down 0.1 percent, reversing January’s 0.2 percent increase.

On a yearly basis, industrial production slid 0.4 percent and manufacturing dropped 0.5 percent in February.

Eurozone inflation accelerated more than initially estimated in March, reaching its strongest level since mid-2024, final data from Eurostat showed.

The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.6 percent on a yearly basis in March. This was revised up from the initial estimate of 2.5 percent and followed a 1.9 percent rise in February.

U.S. Economic News

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected in the week ended April 11th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 218,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 215,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 209,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 209,250

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a separate report on Thursday showing an unexpected surge by its reading on regional manufacturing activity in the month of April.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity spiked to 26.7 in April from 18.1 in March, with a positive reading indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to decrease to 10.0.

Looking ahead, the Philly Fed said the diffusion index for future general activity inched up to 40.8 in April from 40.0 in March, as firms continue to expect overall growth over the next six months.

At 9:15 am ET, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its report on industrial production in the month of March. Industrial production is expected to inch up by 0.1 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February.

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran is due to participate in a conversation before the Washington Economic Festival: Global Macro Sessions at 10:35 am ET.

At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auction of twenty-year bonds.