International oil prices plunged and the New York stock market closed higher on news that talks between the United States and Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz had made progress.
On the 4th (U.S. Eastern time) in the New York stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 907.47 points (1.71%) from the previous session to close at 54,085.88. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index gained 136.02 points (1.79%) to 7,736.52, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite advanced 671.10 points (2.59%) to 26,584.99.
The S&P 500 index set a record high for the first time in two months since on Jun. 2 (closing 7,609.78), and the Dow also hit an all-time high.
Hopes that the United States and Iran will soon reach a deal to reopen Hormuz lifted sentiment. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as White House national security adviser, told reporters, "There are negotiations under way between Oman and Iran, in which we are involved, on ways to allow more ships to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz in the short term."
Semiconductor-related stocks rallied, with Nvidia up 2.56%, Broadcom (6.61%), SK hynix (8.17%), Micron (7.62%), and SanDisk (10.84%). Palantir, which posted results that far beat market expectations the day before, jumped 29.45%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also surged 6.55%.
Other tech stocks also climbed. Apple (1.96%), Microsoft (1.06%), Alphabet, Google's parent (1.11%), and Tesla (1.64%) all strengthened in succession. However, Amazon (-2.32%) and Meta (-0.39%) fell even in the rising market.
International oil prices also plunged. On the ICE Futures Exchange, October Brent crude futures settled at $79.36 per barrel, down 5.3% from the previous session. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled at $75.77 per barrel, down 5.7%.