[New York Stock Exchange] Bessent Says "Hormuz Passage Agreement Soon"...Markets Rally Across the Board

Palantir Surges 23% on Strong Earnings

International Oil Prices Fall Across the Board

Investor Optimism Surrounds Tech Stocks

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted that an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz with Iran will soon be reached, and as a result, all three major U.S. stock indexes were rising on August 4 (local time). The S&P 500 index hit an intraday all-time high.

As of 10:11 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 604.45 points (1.14%) from the previous trading day to 53,782.86. The S&P 500, largely composed of blue-chip stocks, climbed 68.81 points (0.91%) to 7,669.31, while the Nasdaq, known for its focus on technology stocks, jumped 403.94 points (1.56%) to 26,316.94.

New York Stock Exchange view. New York, USA – Photo by Yoonju Hwang

The market showed an expanded investment sentiment amid optimism over renewed passage through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent appeared on CNBC and stated, “Last week, President Donald Trump threatened to take actions against Iran that could have resulted in one of the largest military operations since World War II, and, as a result, we are currently negotiating with Iran.”

He added, “In my view, an agreement that will reopen the strait and steer this conflict toward a more normal phase could be reached today or tomorrow.”

Against this backdrop, international oil prices were falling across the board. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for September delivery dropped 5.17% from the previous session to $76.23 per barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude for October delivery fell 4.63% to $79.89 per barrel compared to the previous day.

The movement of tech stocks was also positive. The previous day, Palantir announced that its second-quarter revenue exceeded expectations and raised its annual revenue outlook. CEO Alex Karp described the outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) as “optimistic.”

Palantir surged 23.22%, Micron rose 5.96%, Intel gained 7.92%, TSMC advanced 2.45%, and Microsoft increased 1.18%. AMD, set to announce results, was also up 6.47% from the previous session. Nvidia gained 1.75% from the previous day, pushing its market capitalization above $3 trillion for the first time. Caterpillar also climbed 6.43% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results and raising its revenue growth outlook.

Jose Torres, chief economist at Interactive Brokers, said, “Investor sentiment is vibrant at the start of this month,” adding, “Following recent earnings announcements, there is growing confidence that investment returns could be positive given the now significantly lower valuations.”

Meanwhile, investors are paying attention to SpaceX, which is announcing its first quarterly earnings since listing. On the day, SpaceX shares were up 2.05% from the previous session.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.