Wall Street witnessed a surge on Thursday due to a rally in chip stocks and a fall in oil prices amid renewed tensions between the United States and Iran.
The NASDAQ Composite advanced 1.30% to settle at 26,206.89, while the S&P 500 ended 0.81% higher at 7,543.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.27% to 52,487.41.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 2.5% due to 4.5% and 7.6% gains in the share prices of Micron Technology and SanDisk, respectively.
Iran said that it has attacked US military targets in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain following US strikes against Tehran.
Taking to X, the US Command said that in a second round of strikes it struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites, coastal surveillance assets, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.
Before this, the US forces had hit around 80 Iranian military targets on July 7, “including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats, to impose heavy costs for Iran violating the ceasefire by attacking three commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz.”
It also stated that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. “Since early May, U.S. forces have helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor,” the US Command said.
Crude oil futures fell as US President Donald Trump claimed that Iran has reached out to make a deal.
In energy trading, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.06% to $72.04 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 0.08% to $76.24 per barrel.
The global markets also reversed losses on Friday. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.7% to 68,869, while South Korea’s Kospi index rose 3.41% to 7,529.65.
The Shanghai Composite index traded 0.53% higher at 4,058.36, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng increased 1.24% to 24,331.
Similarly, Singapore’s Straits Times and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite ascended 0.30% and 0.09%, respectively.
Indian markets are also likely to open in the green territory. GIFT NIFTY was trading 0.50% higher.