Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 rise as investors await historic SpaceX IPO

AP Finance reports:

Asian shares climbed sharply on Friday, tracking big Wall Street gains, and oil prices slipped after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed there was a breakthrough in talks to end the Iran war.

South Korea’s Kospi (^KS11) jumped 7.8% to 8,370.82, narrowing losses from earlier this month from sell-offs of shares related to artificial intelligence. The Kospi has roughly doubled over the past six months, with a record closing high of 8.801.49 on June 2.

Samsung Electronics, South Korea’s most valuable company, advanced 11.2%. Computer chipmaker SK Hynix (000660.KS) rose 7.2%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei’s 225 (^N225) gained 3.5% to 66,442.95, also led by gains for technology stocks. SoftBank Group, a multinational investment holding company with a strong AI focus, was up 2%. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron (TOELY) jumped 10.3%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (^HSI) gained 1.8% to 24,689.32 and the Shanghai Composite (000888.SS) index rose 1.6% to 4,050.51.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) traded 1.9% higher to 8,798.10.

Taiwan’s Taiex (00685L.TW) gained 2.6%, while India’s Sensex advanced 1.2%.

The renewed investor optimism came after Trump said Thursday he had called off military strikes against Iran. He asserted that the U.S. had made “a great settlement of the war with Iran,” adding that an extension of the shaky ceasefire between the two sides could be finalized in “the next few days.” Few details were offered.

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Bloomberg reports:

Oil slid to a two-month low after President Donald Trump said a peace deal with Iran could be signed as soon as the weekend following US military strikes that cast doubt over progress to end the war.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) tumbled almost 3% at the open to $85.13 a barrel, the lowest level since April 17, before paring some losses. Trump vowed to hit Iran again and threatened to seize its oil infrastructure, before announcing attacks were off and a deal was close, without confirmation from Tehran.

The US president has previously insisted an agreement with Iran was within reach dozens of times, but none has yet materialized. The war has led to the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, choking off crucial supplies of crude, fuels and natural gas to global customers, while stoking inflation.

Iran has not yet approved any text for an agreement with the US, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The American military launched a second day of strikes against the Islamic Republic early Thursday after Trump accused the country of dragging out talks on an interim peace deal.

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