{"id":4917,"date":"2026-04-14T21:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=4917"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:32:52","slug":"iran-u-s-talk-hopes-push-u-s-stocks-near-record-highs-oil-prices-ease-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=4917","title":{"rendered":"Iran-U.S. talk hopes push U.S. stocks near record highs, oil prices ease – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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U.S. stocks rallied to the edge of an all-time high Tuesday, and oil prices eased as\u00a0hopes climbed\u00a0that the United States and Iran may try again on talks to end\u00a0their war\u00a0and avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy.<\/p>\n

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Canadian markets also pushed upward, with the main S&P\/TSX composite index closing 223 points higher, or 0.66%.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 added 1.2% to its\u00a0leap from the day before, and the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is just 0.2% below\u00a0its record\u00a0set in January.<\/p>\n

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%. They followed gains for stock markets worldwide as diplomats worked through back channels to arrange\u00a0a new round of talks\u00a0between the United States and Iran.<\/p>\n

If talks succeed and the war ends up being only a temporary setback for the global economy, rather than a new normal of very high oil prices and inflation, investors can turn their attention back to what matters most for stock prices: How much money are companies making?<\/p>\n

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Positive trends there had stock markets worldwide doing well before the war began, and analysts see continued growth ahead, for now at least.<\/p>\n

Lower oil prices help bring down costs for all kinds of businesses, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June fell 4.6% to settle at $94.79 Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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While that\u2019s still above its roughly $70 price from before the war began in late February, it\u2019s well below the $119 peak it has hit when worries about the war have been at their heights.<\/p>\n

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To be sure, hope has often\u00a0swung quickly into doubt\u00a0since the war began, which has caused extreme and\u00a0sudden reversals\u00a0in financial markets. Much of the stress has been due to the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that\u2019s the main avenue for crude oil produced in the Persian Gulf area to reach customers worldwide. Blockages there have kept oil off the global market, which has in turn driven up its price.<\/p>\n

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And that has meant a blast of higher inflation. In the United States, inflation at the wholesale level\u00a0accelerated to 4% in March\u00a0from 3.4% the month before, according to the latest data released Tuesday. That was actually better than the 4.6% rate economists expected.<\/p>\n

The effect is worldwide. Global inflation this year\u00a0looks set to accelerate to 4.4%\u00a0from 4.1% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which had earlier thought inflation would slow to 3.8%.<\/p>\n

The IMF on Tuesday also downgraded its forecast for global economic growth to 3.1% this year from the 3.3% it had forecast in January.<\/p>\n

On Wall Street, strong profit reports from companies are helping to make up for such worries. Over the long term, stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits, and analysts are forecasting S&P 500 companies will report solid growth of more than 12% for the most recent quarter, according to FactSet.<\/p>\n

Optimism remains high enough that analysts have raised their estimates since the war began for S&P 500 profits over the first six months of the year, according to strategists at Morgan Stanley.<\/p>\n

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