-- US equity indexes rose Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite touching an all-time high, after President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire with Iran.
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.3% to 24,569.1, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% at 7,121.2 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7% higher at 49,488.5.
All sectors except real estate, industrials, and financials rose. Technology, energy, and communication services led the gainers. Tesla's (TSLA) results are due after the bell.
Trump's extension of the ceasefire with Iran will last for only three to five days, Fox News reported Wednesday, citing a White House official. The US blockade of the Middle East nation's ports remains in force.
Iran has made lifting the blockade on its ports a key demand for resuming Pakistan-brokered negotiations to end the war and for allowing marine traffic to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for 20% of global crude oil flows.
Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it seized two ships in the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported. A third vessel was also reportedly targeted by the IRGC and is "now disabled off Iran's coast," CNN cited Iranian media.