Iran Peace Hopes Hold as the S&P 500 Reaches a Record High – US Market Wrap

Wall Street began the holiday-shortened week with equities and Treasuries rising as expectations for a US-Iran peace accord outweighed military strikes in the Persian Gulf.
Expectations of an agreement lifted the S&P 500 to a new high, with chipmakers leading the way. Treasury yields fell as concerns about rising inflation receded, prompting traders to reduce their bets on future Federal Reserve rate hikes. The new Middle East upheavals have made the oil market volatile. Brent recovered to approximately $100 after falling more than 7% on Monday.
The United States is hailing progress toward an end to the almost three-month war, with Trump stating that talks to extend a cease-fire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz are underway. Secretary of State Rubio warned that any agreement would likely take many days to finalize.
Security in the vital channel remained unclear as the two sides exchanged strikes overnight, and the US Central Command denied claims that the military was escorting vessels.
Micron soared when UBS Group AG boosted its price target for the chipmaker to a Street-high $1,625. According to people familiar with the matter, Qualcomm has secured an agreement with TikTok owner ByteDance to sell chips for artificial-intelligence data centers, marking a significant gain for a business looking to grow beyond smartphone processors and into AI infrastructure.