Wall Street stocks rise on hopes for US-Iran ceasefire

Wall Street stocks pushed higher Monday on hopes for a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict even as oil prices also climbedUS President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat to wreck Irans civilian infrastructure brushing off questions about violations of international law and defending a profanitylaced social media post on Easter Sunday in which he vowed Iran would be living in Hell if it didnt reopen the Strait of HormuzTrump had earlier called a ceasefire plan developed by international mediators a significant proposal but went on to say it was not good enoughWall Street indices finished in positive territory after a choppy session The broadbased SampP 500 ended up 04 percentMaybe todays rise is because of hopes that one way or another the war will come to an end in a short period of time said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital SecuritiesMondays session was the first since Fridays monthly jobs report which showed unexpectedly strong employment gains in March US markets had been closed for Good FridayThe gains in equities came despite a modest rise in oil prices with the Strait of Hormuz still mostly devoid of tankersWere hanging on every development with regard to the Iran situation and whatevers going on with these negotiations if there are really any and just trying to sort it out said John Kilduff of Again CapitalIf we get a ceasefire and we get a reopening of the Strait you can see oil down 10 15 pretty quickly he addedMUFGs Lloyd Chan said in a note on Trump that it remains to be seen whether this escalatory rhetoric ultimately proves to be another TACO moment a jokey acronym for Trump always chickens outBut the persistence of threats to critical Iranian infrastructure keeps escalation risks elevated he saidEuropean equity markets were closed along with stock markets in Hong Kong and ShanghaiTokyo closed 06 percent higher and Seoul ended the day with gains of 14 percent Among other Asian markets open on Monday Singapore was up 04 percent but Jakarta was down 05 percentAmong economic releases growth in US services activity cooled in March survey data showed as companies monitored the higher energy prices stemming from the war in the Middle East and braced for supply chain disruptions Key figures at around 2050 GMT New York Dow UP 04 percent at 4666988 closeNew York SampP 500 UP 04 percent at 661183 closeNew York Nasdaq Composite UP 05 percent at 2199634 closeLondon CLOSED for holidayParis CLOSED for holidayFrankfurt CLOSED for holidayTokyo Nikkei 225 UP 06 percent at 5341368 closeHong Kong Hang Seng Index CLOSED for holidayShanghai Composite CLOSED for holidayEurodollar UP at 11543 from 11519 on FridayPounddollar UP at 13236 from 13202Dollaryen UP at 15968 from 15967Europound UP at 8727 pence from 8721 penceWest Texas Intermediate UP 08 percent at 11241 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude UP 07 percent at 10977 per barrelThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever