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Stocks rose for a second day on Thursday (April 9), even as oil prices gained, amid continued optimism among traders that the fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran could be sustained.

The S&P 500 added 0.62%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.83%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.88 points, or 0.58% and turned positive for the year. Year to date, the index is now up 0.26%.

US regulators have withdrawn their approval of a GSK Plc drug that the Trump administration had promoted as a treatment for autism, adding another twist to the unusual story of a decades-old drug.

The Food and Drug Administration is pulling its approval of Wellcovorin, a branded version of leucovorin from GSK Plc, according to a post on Thursday in the Federal Register. GSK had requested that the approval be withdrawn, the post said.

CoreWeave Inc. is extending a borrowing spree after striking a new deal to supply artificial intelligence computing power to Meta Platforms Inc. The cloud infrastructure firm is selling $1.75 billion of high-yield notes maturing in 2031, upsized from $1.25 billion, and another $3 billion of debt due 2031 that is convertible into equity, it said Wednesday in a filing.

The junk-bond offering is set to yield 9.75%, the lower end of earlier price discussions of around 9.75% to 10%, a person familiar with the matter said. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are managing the sale, the person added, asking not to be identified because details are private. Orders for the deal reached more than $8 billion, a separate person said.

Treasuries steadied at the end of a volatile session as developments in the Middle East war trimmed oil prices, though 30-year bond yields rose on signs of weak demand at the latest auction.

The $22 billion sale — the third and last of the week — was awarded at 4.876%, about half a basis point higher than indicated by pre-sale trading at the bidding deadline, a sign that demand fell short of expectations.

The indicated yield peaked near 4.94% last week and was as high as 4.915% earlier Thursday. The result still was the highest for a 30-year auction since July.

Oil climbed in choppy trading on signs of further Middle Eastern supply losses and as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is still largely blocked.

West Texas Intermediate’s May contract rose to end the session near $98 a barrel, after earlier rising to almost $103 earlier, while Brent for June traded near $97 a barrel.

Attacks on Saudi Arabia’s facilities have taken more than 600,000 barrels a day of production capacity offline, according to the state press agency.

A unit of Blackstone Inc. provided a $226 million loan for a group of industrial outdoor storage facilities concentrated in the US Sunbelt.

The portfolio’s 46 properties are scattered across 15 states, with tenants such as AT&T Inc., United Rentals Inc. and Linde Plc, according to a statement by JLL Capital Markets, which arranged the financing for the landlord, JIOS. The facilities are located near major cities and logistics infrastructure.

A JLL Capital Markets team led by Peter Rotchford and Tyler Peck arranged the financing. It follows a $231 million loan that Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies provided to JIOS, a unit of Jadian Capital, in June.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc will boost the margins traders have to post for its Brent crude and European diesel futures contracts as the war in Iran sends volatility surging across commodity markets.

The increases effectively more than double the cost of trading the world’s most liquid crude and diesel futures contracts at a time when global oil markets are facing one of the worst supply disruptions in history. Shipments through the critical Strait of Hormuz remain severely curtailed more than a month into the conflict.

Wall Street traders paced a rebound in stocks as an oil rally waned after Israel agreed to direct talks with Lebanon, bolstering expectations that a US ceasefire deal will hold.

The S&P 500 climbed for a seventh straight session, the longest advance since October. While most groups rose, software shares came under renewed pressure. US crude hovered near $96 on hopes for a de-escalation in strikes that had prompted Iran to keep the vital Strait of Hormuz largely blocked.

The stock market may be approaching a bottom as investors begin to absorb recent economic and geopolitical concerns, according to market experts Jenny Harrington and Josh Brown.

Speaking on CNBC’s Halftime Report, Harrington, CEO of Gilman Hill Asset Management, and Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said improving market conditions and resilient consumer sentiment suggest the worst of the recent correction may be behind investors.

“I wouldn’t suggest to you the bottom is definitely in. But if I had to bet one way or the other, I would bet we have substantially digested a lot of the negatives,” Brown said.

Harrington echoed the view, saying that while markets may not have fully bottomed yet, downside risks appear less severe than before.

“I also think that our worst case scenario is a lot less bad than it used to be,” she noted.

Their comments reflect growing optimism that markets may stabilise as investors reassess risks and expectations in a volatile environment.

Shares of titanium products maker Tronox fell more than 5% on Thursday after Truist downgraded the stock to “hold” from “buy,” saying investors may be overlooking near-term risks despite the company’s strong rally this year.

The brokerage noted that Tronox has already more than doubled in 2026 and risen about 20% since the start of the US-Iran conflict, helped by higher commodity prices. However, Truist warned that recent gains may have run ahead of fundamentals.

Analyst Peter Osterland said rising freight and logistics costs, along with an unfavourable geographic sales mix, could pressure the company’s earnings and cash flows in the near term.

While Tronox’s vertically integrated business model is typically viewed as a strength, Truist said it may become a short-term disadvantage under current market conditions due to higher operating costs.

The brokerage raised its price target slightly to $9, but that still implies limited downside from current levels.

Morgan Stanley’s newly launched bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), recorded around $34 million in trading volume on its first day in the market, marking a solid debut in the increasingly competitive crypto ETF space.

While the fund enters a crowded market, analysts say its launch could intensify fee and distribution competition among bitcoin ETF providers. MSBT charges a fee of 0.14%, making it the cheapest among major peers and notably lower than BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which charges 0.25%.

The new offering may benefit from Morgan Stanley’s vast network of financial advisors, potentially helping it gain traction among investors.

However, the debut remains far smaller than BlackRock’s blockbuster 2024 launch, when IBIT saw $1 billion in first-day trading volume amid strong hype around the first wave of spot bitcoin ETFs.

Investors will now watch whether MSBT can sustain inflows and win market share in coming weeks.

Costco may be strengthening its grip on the US retail market, with March sales indicating that the warehouse giant’s market share gains are accelerating, according to brokerage Evercore ISI.

In a note on Thursday, analyst Greg Melich said Costco continues to post improving sales and customer traffic growth while maintaining competitive membership fees, even as rival Sam’s Club has raised prices. He added that the retailer’s consistent performance and strong earnings profile could also support special dividends over the next 18 months.

“Costco continues to differentiate via its share gaining results month after month,” Melich said, crediting the company’s supply chain efficiency, in-store execution, and product selection for helping it win customers.

He noted that Costco stands out as a rare “defensive growth” stock in an otherwise volatile US retail environment, where broader sales trends remain uneven.

Despite a recent rebound in valuation, Evercore said Costco’s stock still trades below the top of its historic premium range relative to the S&P 500.

Oil pared early gains while stocks moved higher after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has agreed to direct talks with Lebanon, signaling potential easing of tensions at a key flashpoint in the Iran ceasefire negotiations.

Brent crude slipped from session highs to trade up about 2.2% above $96 per barrel after briefly nearing $99. Meanwhile, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose around 5.5%, hovering just below $100 per barrel after crossing $102 earlier in the day.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained roughly 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% to session highs.

US stocks recovered from early losses on Thursday and moved into positive territory.At 21:40 IST, the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced more than 250 points, or 0.5%. This comes after a weak opening, when all three indices were in the red, with the Dow falling over 250 points.

At 21:35 IST, crude oil prices traded higher with WTI at $99.71, up 5.61%, Brent at $96.90, gaining 2.27%, and Murban at $100.4, rising 2.80%, while natural gas declined 2.13% to $2.666.The US economy lost momentum in the final quarter of the year, with growth slowing more than expected as the impact of last year’s government shutdown rippled through activity.Data from the Commerce Department showed gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annualised pace of 0.5% in the October–December period, revised down from an earlier estimate of 0.7%. The reading marks a sharp deceleration from 4.4% growth in the previous quarter and 3.8% in the three months before that.A key drag came from federal spending, which fell at a 16.6% annualised pace during the quarter as the 43-day shutdown hit government operations. The decline shaved 1.16 percentage points off overall GDP growth.Consumer spending, a key pillar of the US economy, also softened. It grew at a 1.9% pace, lower than both the previous estimate and the stronger 3.5% expansion seen earlier in the year.For the full year, the economy grew 2.1% in 2025, slowing from 2.8% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2023, pointing to a broader loss of momentum.The outlook remains uncertain. Rising energy prices and disruptions to global trade stemming from the US-Israel conflict with Iran have added fresh risks, clouding the trajectory for growth in the months ahead.

Gold advanced for a third day as traders weighed the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the Iran war, even as ongoing tensions threatened to derail a fragile ceasefire.

Bullion traded around $4,770 an ounce, extending a 1.5% gain over the previous two sessions. Iran accused the US of violating the truce while the Trump administration disputed the ceasefire terms and Iran’s compliance, with the Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed. Oil recovered after its biggest one-day drop since April 2020, while stocks fell and a gauge of the dollar was little changed on Thursday.Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin ETF made a muted market debut, clocking about $34 million in trading volume on its first day, a far cry from the blockbuster launches that defined the category’s early days.The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) enters an increasingly crowded field but signals a new phase of competition, one driven less by hype and more by pricing and distribution. With a fee of 0.14%, the lowest among peers, the fund undercuts rivals, including BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which charges 0.25%.That pricing advantage, coupled with Morgan Stanley’s extensive network of financial advisors, could reshape flows over time, even if the initial response appears measured.The contrast with IBIT’s debut is stark. BlackRock’s fund saw $1 billion in trading volume on day one in 2024, buoyed by pent-up demand after years of regulatory delays and peak market enthusiasm. Today, IBIT holds about $56 billion in assets, but MSBT’s entry is likely to intensify pressure on incumbents.For now, the focus shifts to whether Morgan Stanley can translate its distribution muscle into sustained inflows and gradually chip away at the dominance of early movers.Oil prices climbed sharply on Thursday, with US crude reclaiming the $100 mark, as markets reassessed the durability of the US-Iran ceasefire.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery rose more than 6% to $100.27 per barrel as of 9:51 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures for June gained nearly 4% to $98.26.The move comes as investors recognise that Iran continues to control access to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil flows, despite the announcement of a two-week ceasefire with the US.The rebound in prices suggests that while hostilities may have paused on paper, supply risks tied to the strait remain firmly in play—keeping energy markets on edge.US stock futures edged lower on Thursday, trimming part of the previous session’s sharp rally, as investors assessed the fragility of the US-Iran ceasefire and a renewed rise in oil prices.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.2% shortly after the opening bell, while the Nasdaq Composite hovered around the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 204 points, or 0.4%.On the previous Wednesday session, the S&P 500 jumped 2.5%, the Nasdaq surged 2.8%, and the Dow gained over 1,300 points for its best session since April 2025.However, uncertainty around the deal has resurfaced. Iran has reportedly halted tanker traffic again, citing continued strikes by US ally Israel, raising fresh concerns over the stability of the agreement and the flow of global oil supplies.Oil prices moved higher, with WTI crude rising 5.55% to $99.65, Brent crude gaining 3.47% to $98.04, and Murban crude up 4.57% to $102.1 at 18:50 IST. Meanwhile, natural gas edged 0.15% lower to $2.720, amid concerns about the durability of the US-Iran ceasefire.The core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 3% in February, in line with expectations.Meanwhile, the headline PCE inflation measure increased 2.8%, also matching consensus estimates.Dow Jones Live Updates: Initial jobless claims increased to 219,000 for the week ended April 4, coming in higher than expectations of 210,000, according to data from the US Department of Labor. The figure also rose from the previous week’s 203,000.Meanwhile, continuing claims, which reflect the number of people still receiving unemployment benefits, fell to 1.79 million for the week ended March 28, below both estimates of 1.83 million and the prior week’s 1.83 million.NewsLive TVMarketPopular CategoriesCalculatorsTrending NowLet's Connect with CNBCTV 18Network 18 Group :©TV18 Broadcast Limited. All rights reserved.