00:00U.S. stocks ended slightly mixed on Thursday, April 2, after purring deeper losses as diplomatic signals from the Middle
00:06East helped calm markets rattle earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of tougher actions against Iran ahead of
00:14a long holiday weekend.
00:15Investor sentiment steadied in the afternoon after Iran's foreign ministry said it was drafting a protocol with Oman to manage
00:22traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and Britain said dozens of countries were discussing ways to end the crisis, easing
00:29worries about prolonged disruption to global oil flows.
00:34Stocks had opened lower amid rising oil prices after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled more aggressive attacks ahead of
00:41the Good Friday holiday when markets will be closed.
00:43Front month crude prices surged with U.S. crude up 11% at around $111 a barrel.
00:50The international reference brand closed up about 7% near $108, but traders' price date at about $82 per barrel
00:59in October, a signal that they expect the disruption to be temporary.
01:05The big thing is the markets are clearly reacting to, you know, the President's speech last night.
01:09I think a lot of market participants were expecting kind of an off-ramp, and that's not what they got,
01:15obviously.
01:16And, you know, this is just, this is a reaction to that.
01:19I mean, to see oil up 10% in a day, I think it's, you know, close to unprecedented.
01:25And so, you know, this is kind of back and forth with, you know, headline trading, especially around the war
01:31in Iran, you know, what the resolution looks like.
01:33But the reality is, is the market is saying, listen, higher oil equals higher interest rates, which equals higher inflation,
01:39and that can't go on forever.
01:41I mean, that's, at some point, there has to be an off-ramp, and, you know, everybody's looking for it.
01:46So, the market's just digesting, you know, what they didn't hear last night.
01:51The S&P 500 gained 7.37 points, or 0.11%, to end at 6,582.69 points, while the
02:00Nasdaq Composite gained 38.23 points, or 0.18%, to 21,879.18.
02:07The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61.07 points, or 0.13%, to 46,504.67.
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