Wall Street closed mixed after hopes for an early ceasefire faded following U.S. President Donald Trump's nationally televised address. International oil prices surged again on concerns that the Strait of Hormuz issue could remain unresolved.
On the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61.07 points, or 0.13%, to close at 46,504.67. The S&P 500 rose 7.37 points, or 0.11%, to 6,582.69, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 38.23 points, or 0.18%, to finish at 21,879.18.
Among major tech stocks by market capitalization, Nvidia rose 0.93%, with Apple (0.11%), Microsoft (1.11%) and Broadcom (0.34%) also posting gains. Meanwhile, Amazon fell 0.38%, Google parent Alphabet dropped 0.54%, Facebook parent Meta declined 0.82%, and Tesla tumbled 5.42%. Tesla extended its losses after its first-quarter vehicle deliveries of 358,023 units fell short of market expectations of 365,645 units. Tesla's Q1 deliveries declined 14% from the fourth quarter of last year.
Markets opened broadly lower, weighed down by disappointment over Trump's address delivered at 9 p.m. the previous evening. In the speech, Trump threatened to "strike Iran extremely hard over the next two to three weeks" and to "bomb Iran back to the Stone Age." The remarks contradicted his statements on March 31, when he signaled a willingness to withdraw by setting an "within two to three weeks" timeline for ending military operations against Iran. No concrete ceasefire plan was presented.
Iran signaled its resolve to fight back, raising the prospect of an intense standoff. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, issued a statement directed at Trump, saying, "Iranians don't just talk about defending their homeland — they shed blood for it." Reports also emerged that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked U.S. steel and aluminum plants in the Middle East.
Iran also announced that it was working with Oman to establish rules for monitoring ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. This became a factor that helped New York markets pare their losses. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international organization affairs, told Russia's Sputnik news agency, "We are drafting a new protocol with Oman to monitor ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz." He added, "We are now in a state of war, and one should not expect pre-war rules to apply. Restrictions and bans on navigation are inevitable for aggressor nations and their supporters." Gharibabadi further warned that Iran could consider withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the international community fails to protect its key nuclear facilities, which were recently attacked. In a related development, foreign ministers from approximately 40 countries including South Korea held a virtual meeting chaired by U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
With Trump signaling an intensified offensive, international oil prices surged again. Brent crude futures for June delivery rose 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for May delivery soared 11.4% to close at $111.54 per barrel.
Abandoning the Strait and Withdrawing? America's 'Cut-Loss' Plan
