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Wall Street’s key stock indices recovered most of their earlier losses on Thursday, as investors assessed emerging reports of diplomatic efforts — specifically coordination between Iran and Oman — to establish a transit protocol for the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it was drafting a protocol with Oman for traffic through the Strait.

At 12:05 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140.30 points, or 0.30%, to 46,425.44, the S&P 500 lost 11.64 points, or 0.18%, to 6,563.58 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 50.56 points, or 0.23%, to 21,790.38.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.4 points, or 0.21%, to 46,469.36. The S&P 500 fell 62.7 points, or 0.95%, to 6,512.61​, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 368.4 points, or 1.69%, to 21,472.523.

On Wednesday, the US President said that military operations would be intensified in the next two to three weeks, in a sharp reversal from his earlier comments that the US will be "out of Iran pretty quickly".

"The problem is that we didn't learn anything new. We're back in a place where we know less, not more, about how we find an off ramp to this war," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, according to Reuters.

Crude oil prices surged nearly 7%, taking Brent futures to $108 per barrel.

Thursday is the last day of trading on Wall Street this week with the stock market closed on Good Friday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.33% from 4.32%.

Energy shares climbed, with Exxon Mobil and Chevron rising over 2% each.

Globalstar stock climbed 10% after a report said Amazon is in talks to acquire the low-earth-orbit communication satellite firm.

Shares of United Airlines, Delta Airlines and American Airlines fell between 4% and 6%.

Blue Owl stock plunged 8% after the company capped the amount investors can withdraw from two of its retail-focused funds.

Stocks of Apollo Global, Blackstone and Ares Management declined between 3.5% and 4.3%.

Stocks of Micron Technology, Lam Research and Sandisk dropped over 3% each.

Gold prices slid on Thursday as the US dollar and oil prices gained after President Trump’s comments.

As of 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT), spot gold fell 3.6% at $4,587.55 per ounce. US gold futures slipped 4.2% to $4,613.30.

Among other metals, spot silver tumbled 7.1% to $69.78, platinum shed 2.7% to $1,911.13 and palladium lost 1.3% to $1,453.70.With a distinguished career spanning nearly two decades at the highest levels of financial journalism, Rajendra Kumar Saxena stands as a cornerstone of the editorial leadership team at Livemint.com. In his current capacity as Content Editor, he is responsible for managing the comprehensive editorial lifecycle of the publication. His role is multifaceted, encompassing the strategic selection of high-impact stories, original reporting, and meticulous editing.

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