Source: Sharecast
Oil prices fell sharply early on after the US and Iran officially signed a deal to end the war and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, with president Donald Trump saying the agreement was made to avoid an "economic catastrophe".
Brent crude was down 1.3% at $78.53 a barrel, while WTI crude fell 1.9% to $75.34. Also helping sentiment Stateside was the news that the average price for a gallon of gasoline fell by the $4 mark for the first time since April.
Dow futures were trading 0.3% higher ahead of the opening bell, while the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq surged 1.3%.
The three indices fell 1.0%, 1.2% and 1.3% respectively on Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee revised up its interest-rate projections for the next three years. The dot plot graph showed that nine of the Fed’s 18 policymakers expect at least one rate hike before the end of 2026.
In a brief press conference following the decision to keep rates on hold, new Fed chief Kevin Warsh said policymakers were still “unambiguously and unanimously” committed to bringing inflation back to the Fed’s 2% target. However, he added that “the Committee will deliver price stability”, which markets took to mean the Fed is prepared to hike rates if necessary.
The news sent two-year US Treasury yields to their highest since February 2025 on Wednesday, with the rate up a further 2.2 basis points at 4.217% by Thursday morning. 10-year bond yields also rose on Wednesday, but were down 3.6bp at 4.464% ahead of the opening bell.
In equity news, Accenture's share price was set to drop after the consultancy said it is taking a majority stake in cybersecurity firm Dragos and buying two smaller firms outright in transactions worth a combined $4.2bn.
Meanwhile, shares in Intel soared after Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Apple had agreed to partner with the US tech firm on semiconductor design, though neither company has so far commented on the president’s post. A partnership would help bolster Intel’s manufacturing business, while for Apple, it would help diversify its supplier base.