By Sruthi Shankar and Utkarsh Hathi
May 7 (Reuters) – S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures traded near all-time highs on Thursday as oil prices slid further on hopes of a U.S.-Iran peace deal that could potentially normalize crude supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States and Iran are edging toward a limited, temporary agreement to halt their war, sources and officials said, with hope that a deal could lead to the reopening of the crucial waterway. Global stocks climbed to record peaks while oil prices fell deeper below $100 a barrel.
Tehran is now expected to respond to the peace proposals.
A relentless rally in technology and AI names has also played a big role in pushing U.S. stocks to fresh highs as investors cheered a strong earnings season and upbeat economic data.
At 7:05 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis gained 63 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 E-minis rose 7.75 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 23.75 points, or 0.08%.
“(The) oil shock should not be for long, as US political time-line constrain a prolonged conflict in ’26,” Societe Generale strategists said in a note.
“Profits remain the anchor, supported by fiscal policy, AI‑led capex, the power cycle and industrial policy – sustaining a positive bias for US assets.”
U.S. private payrolls rose by 109,000 jobs in April, their biggest rise in 15 months, data on Wednesday showed, pointing to continued labor market stability despite elevated global tensions.
Weekly jobless claims numbers are due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors are awaiting the more comprehensive nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, with jobs seen increasing by 62,000 in April after rebounding 178,000 in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Traders continued to bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady through the end of the year due to signs of a resilient labor market and elevated energy prices. That is a stark shift from several rate cuts investors priced in before the war.
Fed presidents Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis and Beth Hammack of Cleveland as well as New York head John Williams – all voting members of the interest rate-setting committee this year – are scheduled to speak later in the day.
Among early movers, U.S.-listed shares of Arm Holdings, which licenses technology to semiconductor designers, dropped 8.8% in premarket trading on worries about the company’s ability to secure sufficient supplies for its new AI chip, overshadowing a strong earnings forecast.
Snap tumbled 9% after the Snapchat parent said its first-quarter advertising revenue was impacted by the conflict in the Middle East and slowing growth in North America.
Whirlpool slumped 17.8% after the home-appliance maker missed analysts’ estimates for first-quarter sales and suspended its dividend.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
