Wall Street inches higher as oil prices settle on hopes for more talks between the US and Iran

Audio By Carbonatix

Wall Street ticked higher before the the opening bell Thursday while oil prices barely budged as markets assessed the prospects of a ceasefire extension in the Iran war.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each inched up 0.1%. Futures for the Nasdaq also rose 0.1%. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high while the Nasdaq chalked up its 11th straight day of gains, its longest run in four years.

Pakistan’s army chief is set to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday in hopes of extending the ceasefire that paused almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the U.S. and Iran.

The White House said any further talks regarding Iran would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume official negotiations.

It’s unclear whether the frantic diplomacy can lead to a lasting deal as the two-week ceasefire passes the half-way mark. The Iran war has killed hundreds of people and upended global markets by disrupting the flow of oil.

Benchmark U.S. crude, which is up 37% since the war in Iran broke out in late February, gained 32 cents to $91.61 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 74 cents to $95.67 per barrel.

Oil prices have surged since the Iran war began in late February. The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through daily, has remained largely closed. The U.S. has imposed a sea blockade on Iranian ports this week to force Tehran to reopen the strait and to accept a deal.

“The key upside risk for the market is that peace talks between the US and Iran break down,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote Thursday. “This isn’t an unrealistic scenario, given that US and Iranian demands remain fairly wide apart.”

PepsiCo rose more than 1% after it beat Wall Street's first-quarter targets. The snack and drink giant announced in the middle of the quarter that it would slash prices by nearly 15% on some of its snacks after a pushback by consumers and investors. Increased volumes suggest the pullback on prices by PepsiCo is taking hold.

Shares of the shoe brand Allbirds’ fell about 22% before the bell after soaring 582% to nearly $17. The company said Wednesday that it’s shifting into artificial intelligence and would be changing its name to NewBird AI.

At midday in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. France’s CAC 40 and Germany's DAX each climbed 0.5%.

Asian shares ended mostly higher. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed 2.4% higher at 59,518.34, reaching an all-time high and recovering from its earlier losses since the start of the Iran war. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 2.2% to 6,226.05.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.7% to 26,394.26, while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.7% to 4,055.55. China on Thursday reported 5% economic growth for the January-March quarter, an acceleration from the previous quarter. While economists say China has largely shrugged off the initial impacts of the Iran war, some are warning its massive export engine could be hit more significantly in the coming months on slower global economic growth.

Taiwan’s Taiex traded 1.1% higher. Shares of chipmaker TSMC were up 0.2% ahead of its results announcement Thursday, which showed a 58% jump in profit, better than analysts had expected. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3%.