Consumer stocks were mixed pre-bell Thursday, with the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) up 0.5% and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) down 0.3%.
Dollar Tree (DLTR) shares were up more than 19% after the company posted higher fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue, and raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance.
Technology stocks were mixed premarket Thursday, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) slightly higher and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) marginally declining.Snowflake (SNOW) stock was up more than 36% after the company reported higher fiscal Q1 adjusted net income and revenue, and raised its fiscal 2027 product revenue outlook.
Oil rose off a month low early on Thursday as the United States and Iran traded strikes, a threat to peace talks to end a war that is entering its fourth month and produced the largest-every energy supply shock.West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery was last seen up US$2.78 to US$91.46 per barrel, rising off the lowest since April 20. July Brent oil was up US$2.85 to US$91.46.The rise comes on fresh hostilities in the Persian Gulf. The Wall Street Journal reported U.S. forces attacked a drone-control base in Iran and shot down Iranian drones, while Kuwait intercepted an Iranian missile and Iran attacked commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf.Despite the fighting, the Journal said U.S. officials expect a strained ceasefire between the two countries to stay in place while peace talks in Qatar continue.Oil prices have climbed by half since Iran blockaded the Strait of Homuz on the Feb. 28 start to the war, blocking much of the 20% of daily oil demand supplied by Persian Gulf nations."Brent crude spiked ... after renewed US attacks near the Strait of Hormuz and retaliatory IRGC strikes targeting US bases, underscoring the limited prospect for a near-term peace deal as the US and Iran remained far apart on steps needed to reopen the vital waterway," Saxo Bank noted.Falling U.S. oil inventories are also offering support to oil prices. In its weekly survey, the American Petroleum Institute reported U.S. oil stocks fell by 2.8-million barrels last week, the sixth-straight weekly draw. The Energy Information Administration will release official inventory data later on Thursday.
Crude oil prices rose on Thursday following strikes by Iran in retaliation to an earlier U.S. attack, taking focus away from ongoing peace talks.Brent crude at last look gained 1.9% to near US$96.10/barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude was up 2.1% to above $90.50/barrel. This comes after Iran's Revolutionary Guard said they targeted a U.S. airbase in response to the U.S. military's drone operation in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Reuters said in a Thursday report.Both benchmarks previously hit their lowest levels in a month on the possibility of a deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the report said."While any faith remains that a deal will be struck, prices will drift until some such time as the depletion in global oil inventories starts to finally bite and once again reminds us of how over a billion barrels of oil is stuck behind the pinch of Hormuz," Reuters quoted PVM Oil Association analyst John Evans saying.