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Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire, S&P 500's Record Close Drive US Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell

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US equity futures were higher pre-bell Friday as a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon went into effect while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted new all-time highs on Thursday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.6% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.3% higher.

The halt of Israel's attacks on Lebanon has been an important condition for the resumption of US-Iran talks, which President Donald Trump said could occur "probably, maybe, next weekend" in remarks made outside the White House on Thursday. Trump also said that a deal with Iran could be finalized ideally before the US-Iran ceasefire ends on Tuesday, but he was willing to extend if necessary.

The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to close at 7,041.28, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.4% to end at 24,102.70.

Traders took note of results from two major banks, with Truist Financial (TFC) reporting higher Q1 earnings and revenue and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) posting lower Q1 earnings amid higher revenue.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 4.2% at $95.17 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 4.9% lower at $90.08 per barrel.

Federal Reserve San Francisco President Mary Daly, Richmond President Thomas Barkin, and Governor Christopher Waller are scheduled to speak on Friday.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.8% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.9% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.1% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index was 0.5% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Netflix (NFLX) stock was down 9.5% after the company issued Q2 guidance late Thursday that fell short of analysts' consensus. The streaming company also said that its chairman and co-founder, Reed Hastings, plans to step down when his term ends in June. Exelon (EXC) shares were 1.6% lower after the company's stock rating was downgraded by Mizuho, Barclays and BMO Capital.

On the winning side, Eli Lilly (LLY) stock was up 1.9% after the company said its experimental drug Foundayo met its primary endpoint of a phase 3 clinical trial by showing a lower risk of severe cardiovascular incidents compared with insulin glargine in adults with type 2 diabetes. Oracle (ORCL) shares were up 2.6% after the company said it plans to expand its multi-cloud networking capabilities to provide connectivity between Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Amazon (AMZN) Web Services.

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Asia Markets

US Equity Indexes Rise After Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Deal Injects Optimism in Middle East Diplomacy

US equity indexes rose on Thursday after an agreement for a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon removed a major obstacle to Middle East diplomacy in finding a lasting Iran peace deal.Crude oil futures, however, remained higher as the US warned Iran of military action should it fail to reach a deal in a potential second round of peace talks in Pakistan.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 24,102.70, with the S&P 500 up 0.3% to 7,041.28, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher by 0.2% to 48,58.2. Energy, real estate, and technology led the gainers. Health care was the worst performer.President Trump said the US might hold discussions with Iran this weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported. "We're very close to making a deal," the president told reporters outside the White House, according to the WSJ. Trump said he wasn't sure the current two-week ceasefire in the war would need to be extended, according to the report.Earlier on Thursday, Trump said on Truth Social that Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire starting 5 pm ET. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he welcomed the decision. In a follow-up social media post on Thursday, Trump said he plans to invite the Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House for talks.Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the naval blockade of Iran is an example of "polite" behavior during the ongoing ceasefire, and US forces are ready to strike power plants and the energy industry in the country, if ordered, according to a report from Reuters.Iranian officials and Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, are said to have met in Tehran on Thursday to discuss messages between Tehran and Washington, according to a CNN report. The White House expressed optimism about reaching a deal, saying the second round of talks would likely be held in Pakistan.The CBOE Volatility Index fell 1.5% to 17.91, after trading as high as 19.09 earlier in the session.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 2.3% to $93.56, and Brent crude futures jumped 3.3% to $98.20.US Treasury yields traded mixed, with the 10-year up 3.8 basis points to 4.32%.In precious metals, gold futures fell 0.2%% to $4,811.9 and silver futures declined 1.2% to $78.66.In economic news, US initial jobless claims fell to 207,000 in the week ended April 11 from a downwardly revised 218,000 in the previous week, compared with expectations for a smaller decrease to 213,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg."The conflict in Iran is unlikely to cause significant disruptions in the US labor market," Thomas Simons, Chief Economist at Jefferies, said in a note. "There are many vulnerable points in the global economy that are at risk in the near-term due to potential shortages of all sorts of commodities, but for better or worse, the US economy is likely going to be the most insulated in the world."US industrial production fell by 0.5% in March, compared with expectations for a 0.1% increase in a Bloomberg-compiled survey, and following an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in February.In company news, Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares dropped 7.6% intraday, the steepest decline on the SP 500, after the company reported Q1 net revenue below analysts' expectations.Boeing (BA) is ramping up its hiring, reaching about 100 to 140 factory workers a week, in a bid to replace retiring workers and support increasing production rates, Reuters reported Thursday, citing an interview with a union leader. Shares of the aircraft manufacturer dropped 2.3% intraday, the Dow's worst performer.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$BA$SCHW
Asia Markets

US Equity Indexes Mixed Following Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement

US equity indexes were mixed in midday trading on Thursday after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, removing an obstacle to diplomacy in the Middle East for extending the Iran truce deal.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 24,046.2, with the S&P 500 up less than 0.1% to 7,024.3, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average steady at 48,454.77. All three gauges traded higher earlier in the session. Energy and technology led the gainers. Health care was the worst performer.President Donald Trump said Thursday on Truth Social that Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire starting 5 pm ET. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he welcomed the announcement. Following the announcement of a two-week truce between Iran and the US on April 7, Israel continued bombing Iranian proxy groups in Lebanon - a move that Tehran saw as a violation of the ceasefire agreement with the US.Meanwhile, Iranian officials and Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir are meeting in Tehran on Thursday to discuss messages between Tehran and Washington, according to a report from CNN. The White House has expressed optimism about reaching a deal, saying the second round of talks would likely be held in Pakistan.US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the naval blockade of Iran is an example of "polite" behavior during the ongoing ceasefire, and US forces are ready to strike power plants and the energy industry in the country, if ordered, according to a report from Reuters.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 3.6% to $94.61, and Brent crude futures jumped 4.8% to $99.52.In precious metals, gold futures fell 0.2%% to $4,812.20 and silver futures declined 1.2% to $78.71.US Treasury yields traded mixed, with the 10-year up 3.4 basis points to 4.31%.In company news, Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares dropped 5.8% intraday, among the steepest decliners in the SP 500, after the company reported Q1 net revenue below analysts' expectations.Boeing (BA) is ramping up its hiring, reaching about 100 to 140 factory workers a week, in a bid to replace retiring workers and support increasing production rates, Reuters reported Thursday, citing an interview with a union leader. Shares of the aircraft manufacturer dropped 3% intraday, the Dow's worst performer.In economic news, US initial jobless claims fell to a level of 207,000 in the week ended April 11 from a downwardly revised 218,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for a smaller decrease to 213,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.US industrial production fell by 0.5% in March, compared with expectations for a 0.1% increase in a Bloomberg-compiled survey, and following an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in February.The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index rose further to 26.7 in April after increasing to 18.1 in March, compared with expectations for a decline to a reading of 10 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.The New York Federal Reserve's services index improved to minus 14.0 in April from minus 22.6 in March, compared with a smaller expected increase to a reading of minus 20.0 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The index is the first services sector reading for April and suggests a slower pace of contraction.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$BA$SCHW
Asia Markets

Exchange-Traded Funds Mixed, US Equities Rise After Midday

Broad Market IndicatorsBroad-market exchange-traded funds IWM was softer while IVV gained. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) added 0.5%.US equity indexes were higher after midday Thursday after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, removing an obstacle to diplomacy in works to extend the Iran truce deal.EnergyIShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each gained about 1.6%.TechnologyThe State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) was up 0.9%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) rose 0.7%, and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) added 0.8%.The State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) climbed 2%, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) was up 0.9%.FinancialThe State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) slipped 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) declined 0.4%, and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), climbed 0.3%.CommoditiesCrude oil fell 0.8%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) advanced 3.8%. Natural gas rose 1.3%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) added 1.2%.Gold on Comex eased 0.2%, and the State Street SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fell 0.1%. Silver shed 1.2%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) dipped 1%.ConsumerThe State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) gained 0.2%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) added 0.1%, and iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) was 0.2% higher.The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) eased 0.4%. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was flat, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) added 0.8%.Health CareThe State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) fell 0.7%, iShares US Healthcare (IYH) declined 0.8%, and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) was 0.7% lower. IShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) shed 0.9%.IndustrialThe State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) lost 0.5%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) also declined.CryptocurrencyIn midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 0.9%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) slipped 1%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) eased 1.7%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was down 0.9%.

Dow Jones^EEM^EXI^FAS^FAZ^GLD^IBB^IGM^IGV^IPK^IVV^IWMNasdaq Composite^IYE^IYH^IYJ^IYK^IYW^PMR^QQQ^RTH^SOXXS&P 500^SPY^UNG^USO^VDC^VHT^VIS^XLE^XLF^XLI^XLK^XLP^XLV^XRT^XSD$BETH$BITO$EETH