U.S. stock market near one-month highs

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1,308.99 points, or 2.81%, to 47,893.45, the S&P 500 rose 155.91 points, or 2.36%, to 6,772.76 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 617.51 points, or 2.81%, to 22,635.36

U.S. stock market’s main indexes jumped to near one-month highs on Wednesday after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, sending crude prices lower on expectations that oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz could resume.

Whether these early ‘risk-on’ moves are sustainable or not is another matter. If shipping starts to move through the Strait of Hormuz again, and there’s strong evidence that things can return to pre-war normality, that will embolden investors, said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

But given the complexity of the issues around this, a two-week ceasefire is unlikely to be sufficient to convince investors that it’s safe to go back in the water, he added.

At 2:06 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1,308.99 points, or 2.81%, to 47,893.45, the S&P 500 rose 155.91 points, or 2.36%, to 6,772.76 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 617.51 points, or 2.81%, to 22,635.36.

The small-cap Russell 2000 Index climbed 3% to a more than one-month high, while the CBOE Volatility Index plunged 4.74 points to 20.99, after hitting its lowest point since February 27.

The S&P 500 energy sector was the only one in the red, down around 5%. Exxon Mobil slipped 6.3%, Chevron declined 5.5%, and Occidental Petroleum shed 7.7%.

Travel-linked stocks climbed, with Southwest Airlines and United Airlines gaining 10.8% and 12.8%, respectively. They boosted industrial stocks on the S&P 500 by 3.8%, the top gainers.

Cruise operators Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line rose 14.2% and 12%, respectively.

The S&P 500 tech index added 2.8%, helped by chip-linked stocks. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index briefly hit a record high, last up 5.3%.

Dow was lifted by gains in Goldman Sachs and American Express.