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US Equity Indexes Rise Amid Sliding Crude Oil Prices
US equity indexes ground higher amid a sharp decline in crude oil prices ahead of Wednesday's close as investors parsed ongoing negotiations to end the war against Iran.The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 0.4% to 50,677.2. The Nasdaq Composite edged up less than 0.1% to 26,670.1, and the S&P 500 climbed less than 0.1% to 7,523.2. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were declining before midday.The memorandum of understanding being negotiated between Tehran and Washington will call for US forces to withdraw from Iran's vicinity and lift the blockade of Iranian ports in return for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels, CNN reported, citing Iranian state television. The US denied claims that maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could return to normal within a month of the Iran deal, Bloomberg reported.During an ongoing Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he won't be rushed into a deal, warning that Iran's efforts to outlast him won't work because he doesn't "care about the midterms," CNN reported."Iran is very much intent; they want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven't gotten there ... We're not satisfied with it, but we will be. Either that, or we'll have to just finish the job," Trump said, without elaborating, according to a report from Reuters. "The deal has got to be perfect," he added, insisting that no single country would have control over Hormuz.West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures sank 4.7% to $89.16, and Brent crude futures slumped 4.8% to $94.75.Most US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down one basis point to 4.48%. The two-year slipped 1.5 basis points to 4.04%.
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