[New York Stock Exchange] "Received Contact from the Other Side"... Closes Higher on Hints of US-Iran Backdoor Talks

New York Stock Exchange. New York (USA) ? Special Correspondent Yoonju Hwang

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On April 13 (local time), all three major U.S. stock indices closed higher. Although the U.S. began a blockade of Iranian maritime areas at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, investor sentiment recovered in the latter part of the session following remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump that suggested behind-the-scenes negotiations with Iran.

At the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 48,218.25, up 301.68 points (0.63%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 index, which focuses on large-cap stocks, rose by 69.35 points (1.02%) to 6,886.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index advanced 280.842 points (1.23%) to close at 23,183.736.

On this day, the New York stock market initially opened lower but rebounded later. After President Trump told reporters at the White House, "We received contact from them (Iran)" and "They are very eager to negotiate," the market turned upward.

Axios reported that the U.S. and Iran will continue talks for several days through mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey. However, Iran has not confirmed any additional negotiations.

Following President Trump's comments, international oil prices also gave up part of their earlier gains. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $99.08 per barrel, up 2.60% from the previous session. On the ICE Futures Exchange, June Brent crude closed at $99.36 per barrel, rising 4.37% from the previous session.

Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, said, "The drop in oil prices combined with bearish positioning fueled the rebound in the stock market," adding, "Overall, investors are skeptical about the validity of the headlines, but they also don't want to get hurt by ignoring them."

Energy and oil stocks ended higher. ExxonMobil rose 0.01%, Chevron gained 1.64%, Occidental Petroleum increased 0.03%, Diamondback Energy climbed 1.06%, and APA advanced 2.23%.

In contrast, airline stocks closed lower due to the counter-blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Delta fell 1.12%, American Airlines declined 0.88%, and United Airlines dropped 1.33%.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks also closed higher. Notable gains were seen in Nvidia (0.32%), Microsoft (3.76%), Amazon (0.50%), Alphabet (1.22% and 1.12%), and Meta (0.87%).

BlackRock raised its outlook for the U.S. stock market, noting that the macroeconomic impact of the war is "limited" and that strong corporate earnings could lay the groundwork for future gains.

Recently, the sharp rise in international oil prices and the increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) in March have refocused bond market attention on inflation. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell by 2.2 basis points (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) to 4.291%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury dropped 2.3 basis points to 3.778%.

Gilles Guibout, head of European equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management, stated, "Each day that oil prices remain at such high levels adds pressure to global economic growth and fuels inflation, so time is working against the market. Without a sustainable solution to this crisis, it is questionable whether the market can achieve a sustained rebound."

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the value of the dollar against the currencies of six major countries, fell 0.25% to 98.2.

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