Futures related to U.S. stocks ticked up in pre-market trading on Thursday, after the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh records in the previous session, as investors weighed signs of easing tensions between Washington and Tehran and awaited a fresh round of earnings and economic data.
Sentiment was supported by growing hopes of a possible diplomatic breakthrough after President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Wednesday that the Iran conflict was “very close to over” and that Tehran was eager to strike a deal.
A White House official also told CNBC that a second round of U.S.-Iran talks was under discussion, though no date has been set.
Investors are also watching earnings before the bell from PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), Travelers (NYSE:TRV) and Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW), alongside weekly jobless claims and March’s industrial production data.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.283%, and the two-year bond was at 3.755%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 99.5% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in its April meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.02% |
| S&P 500 | 0.03% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.09% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.10% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were higher in premarket trading on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.13% at $700.85, while the QQQ gained 0.34% to $639.55.
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