WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Extending the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached new record closing highs, while the Dow reached its best closing level in almost two months.
The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still posted strong gains. The Dow surged 868.71 points or 1.8 percent to 49,447.43, the Nasdaq shot up 365.78 points or 1.5 percent to 24,468.48 and the S&P 500 jumped 84.78 points or 1.2 percent to 7,126.06.
For the week, the Nasdaq skyrocketed by 6.8 percent, the S&P 500 soared by 4.9 percent and the Dow spiked by 3.2 percent.
The rally on Wall Street came 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 led to a nosedive by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures plummeting by more than 10 percent and dropping well below $90 a barrel.
The markets also continued 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 have reflected 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) plunged by 9.7 percent after the streaming giant reported better than expected first quarter results but provided disappointing second quarter guidance.
Sector News
Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 6.4 percent to its best closing level in well over a month.
Substantial strength was also visible among housing stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent spike by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
Gold stocks also moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 3.2 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Steel, networking and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength, while oil producer stocks showed a significant move 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 German DAX Index surged by 2.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries 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, slumped 6.3 basis points to a one-month closing low of 4.246 percent.
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