The rebound came one day after stocks slumped when the Federal Reserve, in Kevin Warsh‘s first meeting as chair, held its benchmark rate at 3.50%-3.75% but raised its inflation outlook and signaled a growing bias among officials toward hiking later this year.
Crude extended its slide after the U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where three Saudi-flagged supertankers transited hours after the deal.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to around $75 a barrel, while Brent slipped 1.5% to roughly $78.
Oil has now dropped about 14% over five sessions to its lowest level since the conflict began, dragging the national average gasoline price below $4 a gallon for the first time since March.
Across U.S. equity markets by midday Thursday, gains were concentrated in megacap technology, with the rest of the tape mixed. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% to about 7,505, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8% to near 51,905.
The Nasdaq 100 outperformed, climbing 1.5% to around 30,116 as chipmakers led the charge. The Russell 2000 bucked the trend, falling 0.7% to roughly 2,897 as small caps stayed pressured by the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates.
Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices
Index
Last
% Change
S&P 500
7,505.40
+1.2%
Dow Jones
51,904.50
+0.8%
Nasdaq 100
30,116.00
+1.5%
Russell 2000
2,896.97
-0.7%
Updated by 12:00 PM ET
According to the Benzinga Pro platform:
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 1.2%.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.8%.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) climbed 1.5%.
The iShares Russell ...
