Sawt Falasteen - Stocks rise on peace hopes, oil mixed

Wall Street's main indices were showing strong gains in late morning trading in New York, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 1.8 percent.

The equities "market has been energized by a report that the president is willing to end the war with Iran, even if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully open", said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

He called the response peculiar as this would not ensure a resumption of oil shipments, but noted the stock market is currently oversold on a short-term basis.

"The headline material suggesting the US is traveling toward an off-ramp is enough to prompt some short-covering activity and some speculation wrapped up in the thought of not wanting to miss a rebound effort," said O'Hare.

Investors who short stocks -- bet on a fall -- rush to purchase stocks if they believe prices will rise in order to avoid losses.

O'Hare said oil prices would be the true indication of whether the off-ramp is real or a dead end.

"The US may want to be done with Iran, but if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully open, the Iran issue will not be done with upsetting the global economy," he said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June -- its most traded contract -- was flat at $107.41 per barrel.

But the international benchmark's contract for May, which expires Tuesday, stood at $118.76 per barrel, up 5.3 percent.

The June contract better reflects market dynamics while May' translates the need for immediate deliveries.

The benchmark US contract, WTI, climbed 1.2 percent to $104.10 per barrel.

The head of a maritime analyst group meanwhile warned in an interview with AFP that Asia is confronting a major energy crisis, as it faces the gravest fallout from the war.

"We think Asia will, for now, be the ones suffering the most," Kpler president Jean Maynier told AFP at the company's offices in Singapore.

US President Donald Trump continued to inject uncertainty into the markets with comments Tuesday that nations struggling with fuel shortages should "go get your own oil" in the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil "remains painfully high for economies to deal with", noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

In a sign Trump will likely face pressure to act to bring crude prices down, the American Automobile Association said US petrol prices jumped above an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Market experts warn that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since July 2008, when Brent hit almost $150 per barrel.

"The question is no longer how high oil spikes, but how long elevated energy costs bleed into growth, margins, and consumption," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.

European stocks rose despite data showing eurozone inflation leapt in March because of surging energy prices caused by the conflict, hitting its highest level since January 2025.

Consumer prices rose by 2.5 percent in March, sharply up from 1.9 percent in February, the EU's statistics agency said.

Asia's main stock markets closed mixed.

- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $107.41 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $104.10 a barrel

New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 45,655.35 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 1.3 percent at 6,427.22

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.8 percent at 21,164.71

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,176.45 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 7,816.94 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 22,680.04 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.6 percent at 51,063.72 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 24,788.14 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,891.86 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1523 from $1.1460 on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3202 from $1.3183

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.00 from 159.69 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.31 pence from 86.93 pence

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F.AbuZaid--SF-PST