[New York Stock Market] Trump: "High Possibility of Agreement by End of April"... All Three Major Indices Rise

International Oil Prices Fall
WTI Drops to the $90 Level

New York Stock Exchange. New York, USA – Special Correspondent Yoonju Hwang

As U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned a high possibility of reaching an agreement with Iran at a second ceasefire summit by the end of April, all three major U.S. stock indices were rising on April 15 (local time).

According to the Home Trading System (HTS), as of 9:35 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the Dow) was up 51.70 points (0.10%) from the previous trading day to 48,587.69. The S&P 500 index, which focuses on large-cap stocks, rose 15.18 points (0.21%) to 6,982.56, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index climbed 73.44 points (0.31%) to 23,712.53.

According to British Sky News, President Trump, in an interview with the media, was asked about the possibility of an agreement with Iran before the state visit to the U.S. by King Charles III of the United Kingdom. He replied, "It's possible. Very possible," and added, "They (Iran) have been hit pretty hard."

King Charles III is scheduled to visit Washington, D.C. and New York from April 27 to 30. With the second ceasefire summit with Iran expected soon, Trump signaled the possibility of reaching an agreement with Iran before the end of April.

Iran has also confirmed that it is preparing for the second ceasefire summit and has been indirectly exchanging messages with the United States. According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a briefing that "since the Iranian delegation returned from Islamabad on the 12th, several messages have continued to be exchanged with the United States via Pakistan."

He added, "We will soon be welcoming a high-level Pakistani delegation in Tehran," and explained, "Following the Islamabad meeting, the details of the discussions Pakistan had with the United States and the specific positions of both sides will be discussed in depth during this visit."

It appears that investment sentiment has improved as both sides continue behind-the-scenes contact ahead of the second ceasefire summit.

International oil prices are also falling. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery was trading at $90.88 per barrel, down 0.44% from the previous session. On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude for June delivery was at $94.74 per barrel, down 0.05% from the previous session.

Oil stocks such as ExxonMobil (-0.42%) and Chevron (-0.19%) were also declining. Defense stocks showed a mixed trend, with Lockheed Martin down 0.04%, AeroVironment up 0.85%, RTX down 0.33%, and Northrop Grumman down 0.45%.

Most of the large-cap stocks by market capitalization were on the rise. Notable movements included Nvidia down 0.19%, Apple down 0.14%, Microsoft up 1.24%, Amazon up 0.04%, Alphabet up 0.23%, and Meta up 0.65%.

Brent Schutte, Chief Investment Officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, said, "It does not seem that the conflict has been completely resolved yet, and there are still many concerns," but added, "There are still plenty of long-term opportunities for investors."

He continued, "Investors are returning to stocks they have previously favored. Especially for medium- to long-term investors, there may be opportunities in stocks that have underperformed in such a limited market environment over the past few years," he added.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.