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Equity Markets Rise Intraday Amid US-Iran Deal Report

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Equity Markets Rise Intraday Amid US-Iran Deal Report

US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as traders parsed a report that Washington and Iran have reached a tentative peace agreement.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.7% at 26,862 after midday Thursday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 7,560.5. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1% to 50,693.5. The indexes closed at new all-time highs in the previous session.

Among sectors, healthcare and technology paced the gainers intraday Thursday, while financials saw the biggest decrease.

The US and Iran have agreed to a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and begin talks on Tehran's nuclear program, Axios reported, citing sources. However, US President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on the deal, according to the report.

Iran fired a ballistic missile toward Kuwait overnight, which was intercepted by Kuwaiti forces, US Central Command said on X.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.1% at $88.75 a barrel intraday, while Brent fell 0.7% to $93.60.

In economic news, annual inflation hit the highest reading in almost three years in April even as consumer spending moderated in the face of high gasoline prices in the US, official data showed.

"If elevated inflation continues, we can expect slower trend real consumer spending ahead," BMO said in a note.

Although artificial intelligence has the potential to be a "transformative technology," the risks of a miscalculation regarding its impact on inflation and productivity are "too great," St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem said.

"If the evidence becomes clear that higher productivity growth is likely to ease inflation pressures, I'm prepared to adjust my policy views," Musalem said. "However, at present, I believe we should keep our guard up against persistent above-target inflation today, rather than base monetary policy on the hope that we will have higher productivity growth tomorrow."

US Treasury yields were lower intraday, with the 10-year rate down 3.2 basis points at 4.45% and the two-year rate falling 1.9 basis points to 4.01%.

In company news, Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares jumped nearly 18%, the second-top gainer on the S&P 500, as the discount retailer raised its full-year earnings outlook after posting fiscal first-quarter results above Wall Street's estimates.

Snowflake (SNOW) shares surged 37%. Late Wednesday, the cloud-based data platform raised its full-year product revenue outlook on the back of better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results. The company agreed to a $6 billion infrastructure spending deal with Amazon's (AMZN) cloud platform.

Burlington Stores (BURL) increased its full-year outlook Thursday, while the off-price retailer's guidance for the ongoing quarter indicated a sequential slowdown in comparable sales growth. The company's shares were down 8.3% intraday.

Dell Technologies (DELL), Costco Wholesale (COST), and MongoDB (MDB) are scheduled to report financials after the closing bell Thursday, along with others.

Gold was up 1.3% at $4,538.60 per troy ounce, while silver advanced 1.6% $76.08 per ounce.

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Best Buy (BBY) maintained its full-year guidance as the electronics retailer's fiscal first-quarter results came in stronger than expected, sending its shares soaring on Thursday.The company continues to expect fiscal 2027 adjusted per-share earnings of $6.30 to $6.60 on revenue of $41.2 billion to $42.1 billion. Analysts in a FactSet survey are looking for $6.48 in non-GAAP EPS on revenue of $41.75 billion. Comparable sales are still projected to be down 1% to up 1%, while the Street anticipates a 0.4% increase.For the quarter ended May 2, adjusted EPS rose to $1.28 from $1.15 a year earlier, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.23. Revenue increased to $8.94 billion from $8.77 billion, while analysts expected $8.82 billion. Comparable sales grew 2%, exceeding the Street's 0.9% growth projection.Gaming, computing, mobile phones and services drove domestic comparable sales, which rose 1.8%, the company said.Shares of Best Buy soared 19% intraday Thursday. The stock is up about 15% since the start of the year.The company is projecting comparable sales to grow about 1% in the second quarter as it laps last year's "very successful gaming launch" in June, Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas said on an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript."Comparable sales have started strong in May, with month-to-date growth up high single digits," Bilunas said in a statement.It's been years since Best Buy generated a high-single-digit increase in comparable sales even for a couple-week period, Truist Securities said in a note."This start seems to suggest that there could be upside to both (second-quarter) and the full-year guide that they just reiterated," Truist Managing Director Scot Ciccarelli wrote.As previously announced, Best Buy Chief Executive Corie Barry will step down later this year, to be replaced by Jason Bonfig, the company's current chief customer, product and fulfillment officer.Price: $76.60, Change: $+12.06, Percent Change: +18.68%

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Burlington Stores Lifts Full-Year Guide; Second-Quarter Outlook Implies Comparable Sales Slowdown
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