BANGKOK – Trading on Wall Street is mixed early Wednesday as a fragile truce between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding and oil prices stabilized after a two-day slide.
Futures for the S&P 500 were unchanged before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down about 0.1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.2%.
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Oil prices rebounded slightly on hopes that recent unrest in the Middle East will not hinder the global flow of crude.
After falling more than 9% over the first two days of the week, U.S. benchmark crude gained less than 1% to $64.97 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 48 cents to $66.65.
Lower oil prices could give the Federal Reserve leeway to cut interest rates to help the U.S. economy. Its chair, Jerome Powell, said Tuesday the central bank is waiting to see how the economy evolves before deciding whether to reduce its key interest rate, a stance directly at odds with President Donald Trump’s calls for immediate cuts.
“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,” Powell said in testimony Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee.
Despite beating Wall Street fourth-quarter sales and profit expectations, FedEx tumbled more than 5% overnight after it issued lower first-quarter profit guidance than analysts were expecting. The package delivery company did not offer a full-year forecast, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
Shares of electric vehicle companies rose modestly before markets opened after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in funding for the build out of electric vehicle chargers in more than a dozen states. Tesla rose 0.7% in premarket trading, while Rivian inched up 0.4%.
At midday in Europe, Germany's DAX fell 0.5% and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.4%. Britain's FTSE 100 was unchanged.
Shares advanced in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei 225 picked up 0.4% to 38,942.07.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1.2% to 24,474.67 and the Shanghai Composite index jumped 1% to 3,455.97.
“The world can now move on to face other difficult choices like tariffs and things like that. So I think the market is well on its way to rebound and could again reach new levels,” said Frances Lun, CEO of GEO Securities in Hong Kong.
In South Korea, the Kospi edged less than 0.1% higher to 3,108.25, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 also was barely changed, at 8,559.20.
Taiwan's Taiex gained 1.1% and the Sensex in India was up 0.8%. In Bangkok, the SET added 0.3% after the Thai central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 145.75 Japanese yen from 144.93 yen. The euro dipped to $1.1607 from $1.1610.