S&P 500 rises on report negotiators have reached deal to extend Iran

The S&P 500 rose Thursday following a report that negotiators have reached a deal to extend the Iran ceasefire, though traders remain wary.

The broader index and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. The two indexes hit fresh all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17 points, and was little changed.

Stocks reached their highs of the session after Axios, citing two U.S. officials and a regional source, reported that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators agreed on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire, and further negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. However, President Donald Trump has yet to give the agreement his final approval, the report said.

“The market has been expecting some type of MOU — memorandum of understanding — here,” said David Wagner, head of equities at Aptus Capital Advisors. “You’re going to see the discretionary names run as a first knee-jerk reaction to a lot of this news, which can drive the market higher.”

Tech stocks outperformed Thursday. Memory stocks rallied, with the Roundhill Memory ETF higher by more than 4% during the session. Shares of Sandisk climbed more than 6%. Chip giants such as Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices jumped 6% and 5%, respectively.

Oil prices pulled back from their highs following the report. The West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures was last trading below $89 a barrel, while Brent futures traded around $93 a barrel. Both were higher earlier in the day, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Thursday said that it targeted a U.S. airbase, according to the Tasnim News Agency. That comes after the U.S. military conducted new strikes in Iran against a military site.