Asia Markets
US Equity Indexes Give Up Gains as Iran Reportedly Unveils Plan to Charge Fee for Safe Hormuz Transit
US equity indexes fell midday Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite giving up intraday gains after Iran reportedly created an agency to control shipping in the Strait of Hormuz before sending its response to Washington's proposal to restart peace talks.The Nasdaq slid 0.3% to 25,760.7 after touching a record 26,036.38 intraday. The S&P 500 retreated 0.5% to 7,326.7 after hitting an all-time high of 7,385.02 earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7% to 49,545.5, extending declines.All sectors except technology fell, with energy, industrials, and utilities leading the decliners.Iran has created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, an Associated Press report cited a shipping data company Thursday. Tehran has laid out a new set of rules for vessels seeking to transit through the Hormuz, a chokepoint to about 20% of global crude oil flows, according to a document seen by CNN.Entitled "Vessel Information Declaration," the document is an application form issued by Iran's newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority, and it must be completed by all transiting vessels to ensure safe passage, CNN reported. The document was shared with CNN by the Lloyds List and another shipping industry source who wished to remain anonymous, according to the news report.The Trump administration is looking to restart an operation to guide commercial ships through Hormuz with naval and air support as early as this week, after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lifted restrictions on US access to their bases and airspaces, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing Pentagon officials.Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic is reviewing messages from Pakistan, which is mediating peace negotiations with Washington, but Tehran "has not yet reached a conclusion, and no response has been given to the U.S. side," the Associated Press cited Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on state TV.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 1.8% to $96.81, while Brent crude futures slipped 0.4% to $100.83, off session lows when declines hit more than 3% each.US Treasury yields turned the corner, leaning higher after midday, compared with a move down across most of the maturities earlier in the session. The 10-year rose four basis points to 4.39%, and the two-year rate climbed 4.7 basis points to 3.92%.In precious metals, gold futures edged up 0.6% to $4,727.2, off session highs. Silver futures were up 4.1% to $80.49 but off highs of more than 5% earlier in the session.In economic news, employers in the US announced 83,387 job cuts in April, up 38% from March, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday. The two previous highs were 105,441 job cuts recorded in April 2025 and 671,129 in April 2020, the global outplacement firm added."Technology companies continue to announce large-scale cuts and are leading all industries in layoff announcements. They are also often citing AI spend and innovation. Regardless of whether individual jobs are being replaced by AI, the money for those roles is," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.US initial jobless claims rose to 200,000 in the week ended May 2 from an upwardly revised 190,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations for 205,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 203,250.In company news, Datadog (DDOG) raised its full-year outlook after the software maker posted Q1 results above analysts' estimates. Shares surged 28%, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.ARM (ARM) Chief Executive Rene Haas said, in an earnings call with investors, that while demand for ARM's new AGI CPU doubled to $2 billion within six weeks of its launch, the company has only secured enough manufacturing capacity to fulfill half of those orders. Shares sank 10%, among the worst performers on the Nasdaq.
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