The three major New York stock indexes closed at record highs as President Donald Trump approached a final decision on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the conflict between the United States and Iran.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,032.46 on Thursday (local time), up 363.49 points, or 0.72%, from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16.43 points, or 0.22%, to 7,580.06, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 55.15 points, or 0.20%, to close at 26,972.62.
Among large-cap stocks, Microsoft climbed 5.38%, Broadcom rose 4.86% and Micron advanced 5.24%. Nvidia (-1.21%), Apple (-0.16%), Amazon (-1.24%), Google parent Alphabet (-2.53%), Tesla (-1.43%) and Facebook parent Meta (-0.42%) declined despite the broader rally.
New York stocks edged higher from the opening bell on expectations that a ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran was nearing completion. The previous day, US online outlet Axios and other major media reported that working-level negotiators from the US and Iran had effectively agreed on a ceasefire MOU and were awaiting only Trump's signature.
Trump later wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he "will be holding a meeting in the situation room now to make a final decision." The meeting was presumed to be aimed at granting final approval to the ceasefire MOU with Iran. Trump also stressed that top conditions would include a ban on Iranian nuclear weapons, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz with no tolls, and US-led excavation and destruction of Iran's highly enriched uranium. He added that "no monetary transactions will take place at all until further notice." The New York Times reported that the situation room meeting lasted about two hours, but that Trump had not yet made any decision before the market close.
In response, Fars News Agency, a hardline semi-official outlet linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), cited sources as saying that "Trump's claims mix truth and falsehood" and called them "an attempt to artificially stage a victory." Fars said, "The MOU draft, drawn up in an 'action-for-action' format, is currently in the final approval stage inside Iran, and no decision has yet been made," adding that "Trump, having realized it would be difficult to back out of the agreement, is making remarks that conflict with the contents of the document and saying the maritime blockade will end as of now."
The outlet argued that while Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would be opened without tolls, no such clause exists in the MOU draft. It said Iran would only open the strait under predetermined procedures after the US lifts its maritime blockade. The agency also pointed out that Trump's claim that the US would destroy Iran's highly enriched uranium (HEU) was likewise absent from the MOU draft and entirely groundless. It additionally cited the payment of $12 billion (about 18 trillion won) in frozen Iranian assets by the US immediately after the MOU signing, as well as a Lebanon ceasefire, as items included in the draft.
Among individual stocks, US computer maker Dell surged 32.76% after delivering a surprise earnings beat the previous day, driven by booming demand for servers used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Dell's upgraded earnings outlook revived optimism around the AI sector, lifting rivals HP (12.64%), Super Micro Computer (11.60%), Oracle (10.84%), Salesforce (8.47%), ServiceNow (14.38%) and Adobe (7.36%).
International oil prices fell on hopes for an end to the war. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent crude futures for July delivery settled at $92.05 a barrel, down 1.8% from the previous session. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July delivery also dropped 1.7% to $87.36 a barrel.
