-- US equity futures were higher pre-bell Wednesday as oil prices slipped and a peace agreement between the US and Iran was reportedly close to being finalized.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.9% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.8%, and Nasdaq futures were 1.3% higher.
The White House believes it is nearing an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the conflict and establish a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations, according to an Axios report, citing two US officials and two other sources briefed on the issue.
In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he had paused "Project Freedom," a military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, to see if an agreement with Iran can be signed.
Traders kept an eye on the latest round of earnings, with AMD (AMD) reporting stronger-than-expected fiscal Q1 results and issuing an upbeat Q2 revenue outlook. Walt Disney (DIS) posted higher fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue that also surpassed analysts' estimates.
Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 6.9% at $102.28 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 7.7% lower at $94.45 per barrel.
ADP's national employment report showed that private-sector employment increased by 109,000 in April, compared with expectations for a 120,000 gain in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.
Federal Reserve St. Louis President Alberto Musalem is slated to speak at 9:30 am, and Chicago President Austan Goolsbee speaks at 1 pm ET.
In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei was closed due to a public holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.2% higher and China's Shanghai Composite finished 1.2% higher. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 2.2%, and Germany's DAX index was 1.8% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.
In equities, AMD and Disney shares rose 16% and 5.5%, respectively, after the companies reported their latest quarterly financial results. Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) stock was up 1.7% after the company's Google Cloud secured a $200 billion commitment from Anthropic for computing capacity and processors, according to a report from The Information citing a person with knowledge of the matter.
On the losing side, Arista Networks (ANET) stock was down 9.1% despite the company posting higher Q1 non-GAAP earnings and revenue. Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) shares were down 3.6% and 3.7%, respectively, as energy majors saw stock price declines amid the dip in oil prices.