U.S. stock futures rose on ceasefire hopes after Donald Trump signaled a possible withdrawal, though Iran tensions, threats to U.S. firms, and strong economic data tempered optimism.
The futures contracts tied to the key U.S. stock market gauges were all uniformly higher, pointing to strong advances for a second straight session. The positive mood reflected hopes that 33-day old Iran war would end soon after the U.S. President Donald hinted at a potential withdrawal from the Middle East in the next two to three weeks.
Trump Thaws: Trump also suggested on Wednesday that Iran has sought a ceasefire and that he would consider it when Hormuz Strait is opened In a Truth Social post, the president said, “Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!”
The president will likely shed more details on the Iranian war when he addresses the nation at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Iran Belligerent: Even after Trump hinted at stepping back, Iran and its allies, the Houthis and Hezbollah, are in no mood to relent. They launched cruise missiles and struck an oil tanker leased to QatarEnergy in Qatar's territorial waters.
A Telegram channel affiliated to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Tuesday warned that 17 U.S. companies, including Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and Google, would be considered “legitimate targets” as a retaliatory measure against U.S.-Israeli attacks.
The other companies mentioned were Cisco, HP, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Dell, Palantir, Tesla, JPMorgan, GE, Spire Solutions, Boeing and UAE-based artificial intelligence company G42.
“From now on, for every assassination, an American company will be destroyed,” the IRGC warned. They also stated that attacks would begin from Wednesday, 8 p.m. local time, which would be 12:30 p.m. ET.
Healthy Data Tempers Optimism: Even as the market digests every incoming developments in the Middle East, the futures trimmed some of their gains after a private sector employment report showed job gains well ahead of expectations in March and the Commerce Department’s retail sales report for February exceeded expectations. The latter pertained to a period before the onset of the war. The war impact would begin to show up only in the March report.