WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, extending the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions. The major averages have all shown significant moves to the upside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reaching new record intraday highs.
Currently, the major averages are just off their highs of the session. The Dow is up 974.63 points or 2.0 percent at 49,553.35, the Nasdaq is up 362.39 points or 1.5 percent at 24,465.10 and the S&P 500 is up 85.73 points or 1.2 percent at 7,127.01.
The rally on Wall Street comes following news that Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz completely open to commercial traffic on the heels of the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is 'completely open and ready for business' but said the U.S. will continue its blockade of Iranian ports until a final peace agreement is reached.
The news of the temporary reopening of the strait has led to a nosedive by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures plummeting by 13 percent and dropping well below $90 a barrel.
The markets also continue to benefit from optimism about the potential end of the U.S. war with Iran following the latest comments by Trump.
At an event in Las Vegas on Thursday, Trump claimed the 'war in Iran is going along swimmingly' and 'should be ending pretty soon.'
Trump's latest remarks echo similar optimistic predictions he has made throughout the war, but his comments continue to generate positive sentiment on Wall Street.
The strength on Wall Street may also reflect optimism about the strength of corporate earnings ahead of the release of quarterly results from several big-name companies next week.
3M (MMM), UnitedHealth (UNH), AT&T (T), Boeing (BA), IBM Corp. (IBM), Tesla (TSLA), American Express (AXP) and Intel (INTC) are among the companies due to report their results.
However, shares of Netflix (NFLX) are plunging by 9.9 percent after the streaming giant reported better than expected first quarter results but provided disappointing second quarter guidance.
Sector News
Airline stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 8.9 percent to its best intraday level in well over a month.
Substantial strength is also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 4.7 percent spike by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Gold stocks have also moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 4.3 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Steel, software and computer hardware stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while energy stocks have shown significant moves to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 2.3 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved sharply higher in reaction to the latest developments in the Middle East. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 8.3 basis points at 4.226 percent.
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