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Updated: April 13, 2026
Rian Howlett · Front Page Editor
Updated Wed, April 1, 2026 at 3:03 PM GMT+8 1 min read
US stock futures made gains Wednesday following a powerful rally across Wall Street to wrap up Q1, while investors weighed remarks from Trump that indicate he may be winding down hostilities against Iran.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 (ES=F) rose 0.7% as contracts on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) climbed 1%. Dow futures (YM=F) inched up 0.6%.
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Mini Dow Jones Indus.-$5 Jun 26 (YM=F)
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46,883.00+301.00(+0.65%)
As of 3:40:07 AM EDT. Market Open.
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During the day Tuesday, equities staged a sharp rebound, with all three benchmarks showing the strongest single-day performance in over a month. Oil futures fell as stocks rose, Brent crude (BZ=F), fell by more than 2.9% to trade at $104 per barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) dropped before paring losses to trade over $100 per barrel.
The market shifting moves were fueled by reports suggesting a potential diplomatic off-ramp in the Iran conflict. According to comments made to state media Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is open to de-escalation under certain conditions, stating Iran has “the necessary will to end this war”.
Comments from the White House also indicated a shift in US posture, Trump has discussed ending the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, stating the war won’t last “much longer.”
Looking ahead, investors are preparing for a fresh batch of economic data to start the new quarter. Reports due Wednesday include retail sales figures, ADP’s private payrolls data for March, and the latest reading on manufacturing activity from the Institute for Supply Management.
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- Today at 11:11 AM GMT+8Rian HowlettBitcoin rises after five-month streak of lossesYahoo Finance’s Ines Ferré reports:Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose above $68,000 on Tuesday, snapping a five-month losing streak.”BTC has never recorded 6 consecutive monthly declines in its 17-year history,” Compass Point analyst Ed Engel wrote in a note to clients.Bitcoin has shown more resilience than equities, as the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and gold (GC=F) both dropped since the Middle East war began on Feb. 28.CCC – CoinMarketCap•USDBitcoin USD (BTC-USD)FollowView Quote Details68,783.77+1,418.84(+2.11%)As of 7:48:00 AM UTC. Market Open.Advanced Chart1D5D1M6MYTD1Y5YAllAlthough the token seemed overdue for a relief rally, “blockchain data still indicates bearish flows which increases our confidence that BTC retests the $60k lows,” Engel wrote.”March’s resilience looks like a textbook relief rally within a broader crypto winter,” he added.Read more here.
- Today at 8:40 AM GMT+8Rian HowlettOpenAI reaches $852 billion valuation as it closes funding roundYahoo Finance’s Daniel Howley reports:OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) on Tuesday announced it closed its latest funding round, raising $122 billion in commitments at a valuation of $852 billion. That’s more than the $110 billion the company said it raised in February when it was valued at $730 billion.In a statement, OpenAI said it is now generating $2 billion in revenue per month, up from $1 billion per quarter in 2024, and that, at its current stage, its revenue is growing four times faster than the likes of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) and Meta (META) did.
The latest funding round comes ahead of an anticipated IPO this year and was led by heavyweights including Amazon (AMZN), which committed $50 billion in February, and Nvidia (NVDA) and SoftBank (9984.T), which each committed $30 billion. OpenAI said Microsoft (MSFT) also participated.Read more here.
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- US stocks surge on hopes Iran war will end soonAFPWed, April 1, 2026 at 4:57 AM GMT+8 3 min read
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian signaled a potential end to the war with the US-Israel alliance if conditions are met (Handout) · Handout/Iranian Presidency/AFPWall Street stocks rocketed higher Tuesday while oil prices retreated after Iran’s president said his country had the “necessary will” to end the war with the United States and Israel, lifting hopes that a resolution was in site.President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with the president of the European Council, said Iran had “the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met — especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression.”The comments prompted a surge in US equities, with the blue-chip Dow index finishing up 2.5 percent, or more than 1,125 points, at 46,341.51.”This is the first concrete communication coming from Iran that feels verifiable,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. “The market has been coiled for good news after having been down the last five weeks.”Stocks appeared to shrug off subsequent remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the more than month-long military campaign against Tehran was not over, vowing to crush Iran’s “terror regime.”Pezeshkian’s remarks also shifted the oil market, which has been a major driver of financial markets since the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran on February 28.Brent oil futures finished down 3.2 percent at $103.97 a barrel.Even before Pezeshkian’s remarks, US and European stocks had risen following reports that President Donald Trump had said he was willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened.But worries about oil supplies continue to hang over markets.The head of a maritime analyst group warned in an interview with AFP that Asia was confronting a major energy crisis as it faces the gravest fallout from the war.”We think Asia will, for now, be the ones suffering the most,” Kpler president Jean Maynier told AFP at the company’s offices in Singapore.Oil “remains painfully high for economies to deal with,” noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.In a sign that Trump will likely face pressure to bring crude prices down, the American Automobile Association said US gas prices jumped above an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.European stocks rose despite data showing that eurozone inflation leapt in March because of surging energy prices, hitting its highest level since January 2025.
