Today’s Market Recap: U.S.-Iran “Two-Week Ceasefire,” Three Major U.S. Indices Recover Losses, Oil Prices Plunge, Gold Prices Return to $4,800

TradingKey - During the U.S. stock trading session on April 7 ET, Trump threatened Iran that "the entire civilization will perish," causing the three major indices to fall in tandem, with the Nasdaq dropping more than 1.5% intraday. In late trading, Pakistan called on the U.S. to extend the deadline for Iran by two weeks, and U.S. stocks recovered their losses. The Nasdaq erased a nearly 1.8% decline and the S&P 500 erased a 1.2% drop, both turning positive, while the Dow fell nearly 0.2%.

After-hours, Trump accepted a two-week ceasefire, stating that Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude oil futures plunged more than 19%, while gold jumped, briefly breaking above $4,850. S&P 500 futures expanded their gains to 2%, Dow futures to 1.8%, and Nasdaq futures to 2.7%.

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin briefly topped the $72,000 mark, rising more than 6.5% this week, while Ethereum also strengthened.

Anthropic launched a top-tier AI model, and cybersecurity stocks rose broadly, closing higher for the sixth consecutive trading day. Reports stated that the foldable iPhone encountered engineering difficulties, causing Apple's stock price to slump more than 5% at one point before losses narrowed.

Market Headlines

Trump announced his acceptance of a two-week ceasefire less than 12 hours after issuing a harsh threat to "destroy civilization." Trump stated that Iran has agreed to "fully, immediately, and safely" open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and has accepted a ceasefire initiative proposed by Pakistan. Trump noted that this bilateral ceasefire agreement is based on these commitments from Iran. He further pointed out that "substantial progress" has been made toward a final peace agreement, stating that Iran's proposal has laid a feasible foundation for negotiations and that both sides have largely reached a consensus on disputed issues.

Federal Reserve "No. 3" official John Williams stated that the conflict in the Middle East will push up headline inflation, with the inflation rate expected to be around 2.75% this year. Williams noted that while geopolitical tensions persist, the overall trend of core inflation has not shown significant changes; however, tariffs remain a critical factor affecting the inflation outlook that cannot be ignored. Furthermore, Williams made it clear that Jerome Powell will continue to serve as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) until a new chair is officially confirmed. He also offered a positive assessment of rumored successor candidate Kevin Warsh, stating he has a "deep understanding of the Federal Reserve's mission."

Apple's foldable iPhone encountered technical hurdles during the engineering testing phase, causing its stock price to tumble more than 5% intraday. Reports suggested that the technical hurdles facing Apple's foldable iPhone could delay the product launch by several months. However, Bloomberg later cited people familiar with the matter saying the launch schedule remains set for September and hasn't changed, though initial supply might be limited. The product is expected to be priced at over $2,000, featuring an iPad-like interface when unfolded, focusing on a large-screen productivity experience.

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