U.S. stocks rocketed higher on Friday after Irandeclared the Strait of Hormuz "completely open"on the heels of aceasefire announcement between Israel and Lebanon.
TheDow Jones Industrial Averagerose by 702 points, or 1.5%. TheS&P 500traded up 0.8%, crossing 7,100 for the first time, while theNasdaq Compositegained 1%, with both hitting new all-time intraday highs. TheRussell 2000alsoreached a fresh high. The small-cap index was last up 1.4%.
In apost on Xpublished Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote, "In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran."
PresidentDonald Trumphad said Thursday that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, which went into effect at 5 p.m. ET that day.
Oil prices plummeted following Iran's announcement as supply disruption fears lessened. U.S.West Texas Intermediatefutures dropped 10%, trading above $84 a barrel, while international benchmarkBrentcrude futures declined 9% to trade above $90 a barrel.
Stocks in key industries vulnerable to the strait's effective closure, such ascruise linesandairlines, rebounded. Shares ofBoeingandRoyal Caribbean, for instance, advanced 4% and 9%, respectively. Others such asAmazonandAirbnbalso moved higher.
"This has been a major overhang for the market over a number of weeks," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. "The reopening signifies meaningful progress in U.S./Iran discussions and a huge step down in risk to the global economy."
Trump also said Thursday that the Iran war "should be ending pretty soon." He made the remarks at an event in Las Vegas and described the conflict as "going along swimmingly."
The latest developments build on Trump's comments from earlier this week that the Middle East conflict is "very close to over" and that Tehran wants to "make a deal very badly."
Hopes of a peace deal have propelled stocks to record highs in recent days, with the three major averages all pacing for a solidly positive week. The blue-chip Dow has added nearly 3%, while the S&P 500 has risen more than 4% and the Nasdaq has gained more than 6%.
Source: Drudge Report
