April 17 ( ) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped Friday after investors cheered Iran's decision to open the Strait of Hormuz following a ceasefire accord agreed in Lebanon. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced in a post on X that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open" for the remainder of the 10-day truce between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to in Lebanon. President Donald Trump saying Washington could soon secure a peace agreement to end the war with Iran.
"This resolution is going to drive the markets higher. Nobody in their right mind, and certainly not the administration, trusts anything that Iran says, but actions do matter," said Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst at FXStreet. The news of the commercial shipping resuming through the waterway sent crude prices down 10.6%.
The S&P 500 energy sector slipped 4.5% with Exxon Mobil and Chevron slipping 5% and 4%, respectively. Airline stocks gained, with American Airlines and United Airlines jumping more than 7%. Cruise operators Carnival and Norwegian Cruise rose 8% and 8.5%, respectively.
The CBOE volatility index hit a two-month low and was last down 0.17 points at 17.77. The prospect of de-escalation has encouraged investors to buy risk assets. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite notched record closes on Thursday.
If current trends hold, it would extend the Nasdaq's winning run to 13 days, its longest since January 1992. All three indexes were also headed for their third consecutive week of gains. The small-cap Russell 2000 hit its first intraday record high since the U.S.-Iran conflict erupted, joining other major indexes at all-time highs.
ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 554.22 points, or 1.14%, to 49,136.99, the S&P 500 gained 54.59 points, or 0.78%, to 7,095.87 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 252.37 points, or 1.05%, to 24,355.07. The information technology sector was the biggest boost to the benchmark, while the consumer discretionary sector led gains with a 2% rise. With no major economic data scheduled for release on Friday, investors focused on corporate earnings.
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