U.S. stock futures rise, oil near $100

S&P ​futures gained 0.4% while Nasdaq futures added 0.5%, while ‌oil prices stayed near $100

U.S. stock futures rose and the dollar wavered on ​Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he would indefinitely extend the Iran ceasefire, keeping sentiment buoyed, although with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, ‌oil prices stayed near $100.

Trump’s announcement appeared to be unilateral, and it was not immediately clear whether Iran or Israel would agree to extend the ceasefire, which began two weeks ago.

Markets took the latest development in stride as investors weighed the extension with no signs of resumption in talks yet. Iran had rejected a second round of negotiations before Trump’s announcement.

S&P ​futures gained 0.4% while Nasdaq futures added 0.5%. European futures eased 0.3% pointing to a subdued open.

Elsewhere, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ​dropped 0.7% after hitting a seven-week high on Tuesday. Nikkei, KOSPI and Taiwan stocks hit record highs on renewed AI ⁠wagers.

Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics, said the earlier ceasefire was widely seen as indefinite so it was not surprising the latest ​announcement had not moved markets much.

Obviously, any news on the re-opening of the Strait is a good candidate for the next big market flashpoint, Mathews added.

After ​a sharp selloff in March due to the war in the Middle East, markets across the world have swiftly rebounded this month and are back at pre-war levels as the prospect of a peace deal and the ceasefire spurred a risk-on rally.

That has also left the U.S. dollar, which benefited from safe haven demand in March, on the back foot, giving up most of ​its war-induced gains.

It appears markets were right to assume peak war uncertainty is behind us, said Matt Simpson, a senior market analyst at StoneX. Risk seems likely ​to remain buoyant and dips viewed favourably by equity bulls. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is already priced in.