S&P 500, Nasdaq Close at Records as U.S.-Iran Truce Hopes Send Brent Down 7.8%

Benchmark Brent Crude Falls 7.8%

U.S. stocks rallied across the board on May 6 as hopes grew that the U.S. and Iran could strike a deal to end the war. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed at record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 612.34 points, or 1.24%, to 49,910.59 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The S&P 500 gained 105.90 points, or 1.46%, to 7,365.12, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 512.81 points, or 2.02%, to 25,838.94. Both indexes extended their record highs.

CNN and Axios reported that the U.S. and Iran are discussing a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to end the war. The agreement would include a temporary halt to Iran's uranium enrichment, the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to the U.S. maritime blockade on Iran.

Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said Tehran is reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war. In an interview with Iran's ISNA news agency, he said Iran was still examining the U.S. plan and would convey its position to the Pakistani side after completing that review.

Oil prices fell on expectations that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. Brent crude futures for July settlement closed at $101.27 a barrel, down 7.83% from the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for June settlement fell 7.03% to $95.08 a barrel.

AMD surged 18.61% after reporting first-quarter results that topped expectations. The company posted earnings per share of $1.37 and revenue of $10.25 billion, beating forecasts for EPS of $1.29 and revenue of $9.89 billion.

The Magnificent Seven megacap technology stocks also advanced. Nvidia gained 5.77%, Alphabet rose 2.47%, Tesla added 2.40%, Meta climbed 1.31%, Apple advanced 1.17%, Microsoft rose 0.63% and Amazon added 0.53%.

Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter, 2su@hankyung.com