US equities are drifting on Friday as investors assessed conflicting updates on Middle East diplomacy while bracing for SpaceX’s historic public market debut.
As of 10:05 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% lower.
In early trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 50,858.98. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 7,380.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.3% to 25,724.16.
Global market sentiment initially surged following President Thursday remarks, which hinted that a comprehensive peace treaty to resolve the regional conflict and unblock the vital Strait of Hormuz could be finalized this weekend. However, cautionary undertones remained as Tehran noted a conclusive agreement is still pending.
“It’s very difficult to know what’s going on,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers, pointing to numerous earlier occasions when US officials signaled an agreement that never came to pass.
Meanwhile, trading for SpaceX is slated to commence on the Nasdaq, tracking an unprecedented $1.75 trillion valuation that immediately places it among America’s largest public corporations.
Founded by Tesla chief Elon Musk in 2002, the aerospace pioneer has evolved into a prominent satellite network provider while absorbing xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence venture encompassing X.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose following Trump’s announcement. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.49% from 4.45% late Thursday.
Key Stock Movers
As SpaceX is expected to start trading later in the day, shares of other space companies slipped. Rocket Lab shed 5.4%, Intuitive Machines and Planet Labs plunged 8.3% and 6.6%, respectively.
While funds holding shares of SpaceX such as Fundrise Innovation Fund surged 3.4%.
Stocks of Broadcom, Micron and Marvell Technology declined between 1% and 2.5%.
Adobe shares slumped 8.6% after the exit of CFO Dan Durn.
Energy Markets
Global oil and natural gas benchmarks declined amid indications that Washington and Tehran are close to finalizing a temporary truce to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
International benchmark Brent crude plummeted by as much as 5.1%, hitting its lowest price point since the outbreak of hostilities in March. Concurrently, European wholesale natural gas futures tumbled up any where near 8.4% before subsequently trimming some of those initial losses.
According to senior diplomatic sources, the two nations are progressing toward a pact that would prolong the current ceasefire by roughly sixty days, allowing a window for deeper negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The preliminary accord could potentially be ratified during next week’s G7 summit. While Iranian state media indicated the primary structural text is largely complete, officials emphasized Tehran will not yield control of the strategic waterway or revert to pre-February military conditions.
Bullion
slid on Friday as projections of elevated interest rates pressured the non-interest-bearing asset ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming monetary policy review.
As of 1323 GMT, spot gold declined 0.2% at $4,205.39 per ounce. US gold futures rose 2.7% to $4,226.10.
“I think that the inflation is going to linger for some time, even if oil prices do come down… we’ve heard this story before and there’s some degree of skepticism,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.
Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.7% to $66.88 per ounce and platinum lost 0.4% at $1,712.77. Palladium rose 1.6% to $1,285.03.