(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed higher on Friday after Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open" following a ceasefire announcement between Israel and Lebanon.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.79% at 49,447.43, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.20% to 7,126.06 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.52% firmer at 24,468.48.
The Dow closed 868.71 points higher on Friday, building on gains recorded in the previous session.
Donald Trump said late on Thursday that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire following talks in Washington, giving sentiment a slight boost, with the temporary truce beginning at 2200 BST. Trump added that the next round of inperson negotiations could take place "probably, maybe, next weekend".
Stocks then surged early on Friday after Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said: "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."
Trump, who recently claimed that the US and Israel's war with Iran "should be ending pretty soon", also said that Iran had agreed to keep the Strait of Hormuz open permanently, after thanking Tehran for reopening the waterway. He added that the US Navy's blockade of Iranian ports would "remain in full force" until a peace agreement has been reached, stating most points were already negotiated and the process "should go very quickly".
However, the scope of the reopening remained uncertain, with Iran's Tasnim news agency reporting that vessels linked to hostile nations would still be barred from transiting the strait and warned that the passage could be closed again if the US blockade continued. It also remained unclear whether ships would be required to pay a toll to pass through the waterway.
In the corporate space, streaming giant Netflix posted firstquarter revenues overnight that came in just ahead of expectations as it also announced a major governance change, with co-founder and former CEO Reed Hastings set to step down from the board.
Netflix said revenues had risen 16% yearonyear to $12.25bn in Q1, ahead of the $12.18bn expected by analysts, while net income jumped to $5.28bn, nearly double the $2.89bn reported a year earlier, helped by strongerthanexpected operating income and a $2.8bn termination fee from its collapsed Warner Bros Discovery deal.
No major data points were scheduled for release on Friday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $86.25 4.86%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $68.50 4.13%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $349.40 3.63%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $119.07 3.13%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $925.95 2.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $794.65 2.85%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $146.93 2.67%
3M Co. (MMM) $154.55 2.66%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $324.63 2.60%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $106.29 2.28%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $35.60 -10.82%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $183.99 -2.19%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.55 -0.49%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $234.18 -0.15%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $0.00 0.00%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $310.29 0.11%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $182.14 0.51%
Visa Inc. (V) $317.02 0.61%
S&P 500 - Risers
Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $45.40 10.33%
Leggett & Platt Inc. (LEG) $12.03 7.80%
Flowserve Corp. (FLS) $83.82 7.70%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $19.41 7.59%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $182.24 7.48%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $285.48 7.34%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $236.62 7.29%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $90.58 7.17%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $29.22 6.99%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $101.80 6.99%
S&P 500 - Fallers
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $66.27 -11.98%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $97.31 -9.80%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $112.68 -9.65%
Celanese Corp. (CE) $62.03 -9.23%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $197.75 -8.29%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $223.65 -7.48%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $213.69 -5.55%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $53.79 -5.42%
HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) $57.15 -4.92%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $116.04 -4.55%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $236.62 7.29%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $547.75 6.98%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $371.45 6.83%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $78.76 6.00%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $229.82 5.74%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $25.48 5.03%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $86.25 4.86%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,791.44 4.67%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $12.51 4.42%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $104.65 4.37%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.64 -35.07%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $97.31 -9.80%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $123.83 -3.78%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $244.45 -2.93%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $212.04 -1.69%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $393.25 -1.55%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $177.35 -1.12%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $54.64 -1.09%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $136.43 -1.03%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,855.83 -0.87%
77.64 (0.73%)
0.00