World shares trade near record highs, crude gains nudged by Middle East ceasefire
Global shares traded near record highs on Wednesday while crude oil prices gained and were on track to snap three straight sessions of declines as Middle East tensions eased, allowing markets to focus on U.S. inflation and prospects of interest rate cut.
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding, further reducing the risks of disruptions to the global oil trade. At a NATO summit on Wednesday, President Donald Trump basked in the quick end to the 12-day conflict, saying he now expected a relationship with Iran that would preclude rebuilding its nuclear programme. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell resumes two days of Congressional testimony on Wednesday when he appears before the Senate Banking committee after scrutiny before a House panel on Tuesday.
Benchmarks S&P 500 and Nasdaq were hovering near a fresh record high, helped by gains in technology and communication services shares. The Dow was trading lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.10% to 43,045.70, the SP 500 rose 0.17% to 6,102.26 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.44% to 19,999.51.
European shares turned lower, dropping 0.5%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan finished up 0.8% overnight. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.05% to 903.46, after hitting a fresh record high earlier in the session.
"It looks like we've got a bit of a tug of war as to everything from Middle East tensions to how that's going to impact inflation, and then you've got oil prices firming up a little bit," said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere Co in New Orleans. "It would be interesting if oil gets weaker and inflation stays at bay and then you wrap all that into what Powell has been saying. It feels like the market is being pretty resilient."
Brent crude futures were up 0.94% at $67.80 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was up 1%, to $65.04. Prices had plunged more than 10% over the two sessions after rallying to five-month highs after the U.S. attacked Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend.
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