Stocks jumped on Wednesday following a news report that the U.S. has given Iran a plan to bring the conflict to an end, sending crude prices tumbling.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 522 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1% and 1.2%, respectively.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. is said to have sent Iran a peace plan to end the war, citing two unnamed officials. The 15-point plan was delivered by way of Pakistan, the outlet said. To be sure, both sides appear to be very far apart and attacks from both sides have continued. The Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. is deploying the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.
The peace plan report comes after President Donald Trump earlier Tuesday said that the U.S. is “in negotiations right now” with Iran. He added that Tehran is “talking sense” and suggested it is eager to make a peace deal.
Iran state media said the country won’t accept U.S. ceasefire efforts, however.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell sharply Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate futures lost 4% to around $87 per barrel. International Brent also fell 5% to around $99. Treasury yields also tumbled with oil prices and the prospect for peace.
“We continue to see this as just an oil-driven, one-variable market,” Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist at Piper Sandler, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” Tuesday. “Oil and interest rates are driving the equity market. And for now, I think markets are priced appropriately for where conditions are, and we’ll continue to move and react as conditions evolve.”
He added: “I’m less concerned about the economy. I think the U.S. economy can certainly handle $90, $100 oil. I’m a little more concerned about interest rates and the fear of persistent inflation weighing on equity multiples.”
The war has led to tremendous volatility for stocks this week. The market on Tuesday gave back some of its gains from Monday, which saw all three averages soaring more than 1% after Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the U.S. and Iran have held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.” However, Iranian state media denied reports of these direct talks between the two nations.
“While there remain questions over who in Iran can curtail military activities as well as what will satisfy Israel interests, the market seems to be expressing a view that it wants to bounce higher from here,” said JPMorgan’s trading desk in a note. “Also, it is unclear that Iran would drop previous requests, including security guarantees against future aggression and reparation/compensation for losses incurred during this conflict.”
Gains in shares of technology supported the broader market Wednesday, with Nvidia, AMD and Intel all jumping. Stocks that would benefit from a solid economy also gained with financials and industrials in the green.
Stocks open with gains
U.S. equities began Wednesday’s session solidly in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 548 points, or 1.2%. The S&P 500 rose 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1%.
— Sean Conlon
Paychex rises after earnings beat
Paychex shares rose about 4% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company’s fiscal third-quarter results came in better than expected.
The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.71 per share on revenue of $1.81 billion for the period, while analysts polled by FactSet had penciled in $1.67 in earnings per share and $1.78 billion in revenue.
Paychex also reaffirmed its earnings and revenue growth for the full year.
— Sean Conlon
Import prices jumped in February to highest since March 2022
Import prices rose 1.3% in February, more than expected and the biggest monthly gain in nearly four years as a notable increase in nonfuel goods costs suggested underlying pressures were building ahead of the energy spike, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
Along with the spike in import costs, export prices jumped 1.5%, well ahead of the 0.6% increase in January. Economists had been looking for import prices to rise just 0.6%. Together the data points to pipeline inflation ahead as Federal Reserve officials contemplate their next move on interest rates.
Import prices were last this high in March 2022, just a few months before the consumer price index annual inflation rate peaked above 9% as the Fed was raising benchmark interest rates.
— Jeff Cox
Chewy shares jump after latest quarterly results
Shares of Chewy jumped more than 7% in the premarket on Wednesday after the company’s adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter came in better than expected and its net sales guidance for the first quarter and full year were upbeat.
In the fourth quarter, Chewy posted adjusted EBITDA of $162.3 million, above the $161 million that analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Revenue for the period, however, came up short, as the company recorded $3.26 billion compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion.
Looking ahead, the company sees net sales coming in between $3.33 billion and $3.36 billion for the first quarter, while analysts anticipated $3.27 billion, per FactSet. Net sales for the full year is expected to be between $13.60 billion and $13.75 billion, above the $13.58 billion expected.
— Sean Conlon
Arm, EchoStar and Chewy among the names making moves before the bell
Check out the companies making the biggest moves premarket:
- Arm — The chipmaker popped 13% after it unveiled its first in-house chip, saying it would generate $15 billion in revenue by 2031.
- EchoStar — Shares jumped nearly 7% after The Information reported that SpaceX could file for an IPO as soon as this week. The satellite communications provider has about a 3% stake in the Elon Musk-led company.
- Chewy — The pet product and service company jumped nearly 7% after delivering its fourth quarter report. It reported adjusted EBITDA that beat a FactSet consensus estimate but revenue that was slightly under expectations.
Read here for the full list.
— Davis Giangiulio
Merck to buy Terns Pharmaceuticals for $6.7 billion in cash
Merck agreed to buy Terns Pharmaceuticals for $53 per share in cash, valuing the biopharma company at $6.7 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter and represents a 6% premium to Terns’ closing level on Tuesday.
Terns shares gained 5%, while Merck climbed 0.4%.
— Fred Imbert
Recession odds climb as economy shows cracks beneath the surface
In recent days, economists have pulled up their risk assessments of a U.S. contraction amid heightened uncertainty over geopolitical risk and a labor market that for the past year has shown strains over the past year.
Moody’s Analytics’ model has raised its recession outlook for the next 12 months to 48.6%. Goldman Sachs boosted its estimate to 30%. Wilmington Trust has the odds at 45%, while EY Parthenon has it at 40%, with the caveat that “those odds could rapidly rise in the event of a more prolonged or severe Middle East conflict.”
In normal times, the risk for a recession in any given 12-months span is around 20%. So while the current predictions are hardly certainties, they signify elevated risk.
Read more here.
— Jeff Cox
Asia-Pacific stocks rise as Trump comments signal de-escalation in Iran conflict
Asia-Pacific markets closed higher on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested potential talks with Iran, lifting investor sentiment, even as Tehran denies any direct negotiations with Washington.
Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. and Iran were “in negotiations right now” and suggested Tehran was keen to strike a peace deal, adding he had stepped back from threats to target Iranian energy infrastructure “based on the fact we’re negotiating.”
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.59% to end at 5,642.21 while the small-cap Kosdaq was 3.40% higher, ending the trading day at 1,159.55.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.85% to close at 8,534.3.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.87% to 53,749.61, while the Topix added 2.57% to 3,650.99.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.09%, while the CSI 300 gained 1.4% to 4,537.47.
— Lee Ying Shan
South Korea stocks lead regional gains as Trump comments signal Iran war de-escalation
South Korea stocks led regional gains Wednesday as comments from U.S. President Donald Trump pointing to potential talks with Iran lifted sentiment, even as Tehran has denied any direct negotiations with Washington.
Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. and Iran were “in negotiations right now” and suggested Tehran was keen to strike a peace deal, adding he had stepped back from threats to target Iranian energy infrastructure “based on the fact we’re negotiating.”
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 3.18% higher.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 2%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.88%, while the Topix added 2.4%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.14%, while the CSI 300 rose 0.67%.
Oil prices were lower in early Asia trading hours.
International benchmark Brent crude futures fell around 6% to $98.31 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were also down 5% at $87.65 per barrel.
— Lee Ying Shan
ConocoPhillips CEO says ‘policy durability’ needed to return to Venezuela
ConocoPhillips has no plans to immediately return to Venezuela, said CEO Ryan Lance, speaking at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas.
“They have a long ways to go to make make the country competitive globally to attract the kinds of billions of dollars of investments that are going to be required,” Lance said.
Among the concerns he cited are the need for physical security and contract guarantees as well as policy durablity in both Venezuela and the U.S.
“You need need policy durability — not only the Venezuelan side but the U.S. side,” Lance said. “What happens when another administration comes in? How are they going to view Venezuela?”
Conoco was among the companies that had their assets seized by President Hugo Chavez in 2007, and the company would want to recover some the $12 billion it is owed from the expropriation of its assets.
— Spencer Kimball
Seven of 11 GICS sectors traded positive on Tuesday
On Tuesday, seven of the 11 GICS sectors ended the session higher.
The energy sector, up 2.05%, led the gains.
On the other hand, communication services stocks were the laggard. The sector lost 2.50%, posting its worst daily performance since April 10, 2025, when it fell 4.13%.
— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes
Stocks making the biggest moves after the bell: KB Home, GameStop, Braze
These are the stocks making the biggest moves in after-hours trading:
- KB Home — Shares fell nearly 5% after the homebuilder reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 52 cents per share, coming below the 55 cents per share analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated. The company’s $1.08 billion revenue also fell below the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Additionally, KB Home forecast current-quarter housing revenue and deliveries that missed StreetAccount estimates.
- GameStop — The video game retailer was last trading marginally lower after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $1.10 billion versus $1.28 billion from a year ago. Its adjusted earnings of 49 cents exceeded the 30 cents it had earned this time one year ago.
- Braze — Shares surged 19% after the cloud-based software company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $205.2 million, while analysts polled by FactSet had expected $198.2 million. Braze also called for current quarter revenue that exceeded the Street’s estimate. However, its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 10 cents per share came in below the consensus expectation of 14 cents per share.
— Lisa Kailai Han
