S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite Reach Record-High On Hopes End Of Iran War is Near

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite reached a new record on Wednesday, extending gains seen throughout the week on investors’ hopes that an end to the war in Iran could be near.

Concretely, the index closed the session 0.8 percent higher and broke the 7,000 mark. It has now posted gains in 10 out of the past 11 trading days. The Nasdaq Composite climbed by almost 1.6 percent and broke the 24,000 mark.

The S&P has already recovered from losses seen since the beginning of the war in Iran on February 28 and could see further gains if hostilities effectively end in the Middle East.

Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, told CNBC that the “setup” before the war was “that market participants had de-risked to a degree in anticipation that maybe things might get bad, and then as that seems like it’s maybe less of a likelihood, they’re needing to buy.”

Hopes about the conflict ending soon increased after President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the war is “very close to over” and that Tehran “wants to make a deal very badly.”

The remarks are part of a broader report claiming that both parties made progress in talks on Tuesday and are moving closer to a framework deal aimed at ending the war.

Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are working to facilitate a new meeting between the parties before the ceasefire ends next Tuesday, April 21. “They were on the phone and backchanneling with all the countries and they are getting closer,” a U.S. official told Axios on Wednesday.

However, the possibility that Iran enriches uranium remains a sticking point. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the country is open to discussing the type and magnitude of enrichment but, “based on its needs,” it “must be able to continue enrichment.”

The remarks stand in contrast Trump’s assessment of whether there is room for Iran to enrich uranium. And even though there are also conflicting reports about the U.S.’s stance on the matter, all of them point at no enrichment, at least in the near future.