investingLive Americas market news wrap: Stock markets rally even as oil prices climb

• Trump has not set a timeline for the extension of the ceasefire – report
• Iran President: Breach of commitments, blockade and threats are main obstacles to talks
• Trump touts that Iranian women he asked to be released won’t be executed
• Iran parliamentary speaker Ghalibaf: Complete ceasefire only makes sense without blockade
• US EIA weekly crude oil inventories +1925K vs -1200K expected
• April eurozone flash consumer confidence -20.6 vs -16.3 prior
• Trump says talks with Iran “possible” on Friday – report
• Germany cuts GDP forecast in half on the Iran war.

Markets:

• S&P 500 up 1.1%
• Nasdaq up 1.6%
• WTI crude oil up $2.88 to $92.53
• US 10-year yields flat at 4.30%
• Gold up $28 to $4740
• NZD leads, CHF lags

The stock market continued to rise on Wednesday, led by some of the most-heavily shorted stocks. That’s a bit of a red flag but they weren’t the only gainers as tech optimism was leading the charge.

That came despite a renewed rise in oil prices as there is confusion over how long the latest ceasefire might last. The market appears to be confident that a deal will eventually materialize with some talk about Friday talks or something on the weekend. Trump said he would allow some time for Iran’s negotiators to present a deal and several reports said that meant 3-5 days but the White House later claimed that there wasn’t a deadline (not that they’ve mattered before).

The euro softened in line with the move higher in oil and softer German growth numbers (though the later wasn’t a surprise). Economic data was limited and so was Iran news so that limited volatility.

This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.