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May 28, 2026 - 00:43
5 minutes
(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks were set to edge lower, while oil gained as investors weighed conflicting signals over prospects for a deal to end the war in Iran and restore energy flows through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.Equity share futures pointed to small declines in Australia and Hong Kong, while Japanese contracts advanced. US stock futures were little changed in early trading after the S&P 500 finished flat following a volatile session. US oil advanced after falling more than 5% on Wednesday.President Donald Trump said he was “not satisfied” in negotiations with Iran, damping expectations for an imminent breakthrough. The US denied an Iranian media report about a draft interim deal that said traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could return to normal within a month of it coming into effect.Trump asserted that no one nation would control the waterway, highlighting a key sticking point in resolving the conflict as it enters its fourth month. He didn’t indicate what steps the US would take to ensure free passage of vessels. The president also downplayed the possibility of Iranian sanctions relief.Markets have swung sharply as traders assess whether the Middle-East conflict will disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of global oil supply. Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough briefly eased concerns over energy prices and inflation, but mixed signals from Washington and Tehran have kept investors on edge.“The panic buyers are gone, and the realization we’re actually not going to run out of oil is setting in,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president for trading at BOK Financial Securities Inc. “This could change if a major oil carrier is fired upon in the strait, but I believe Iran and the US are now both looking for a deal.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made” on Iran. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Vice President JD Vance “have been very involved,” he noted.“The stock market has enough confidence that a resolution with Iran will eventually come to light, even if it’s not immediate,” said Alexander Guiliano at Resonate Wealth Partners. “While it may seem like stocks have moved too fast, we saw a garden variety correction only two months ago, which helped to reset sentiment.”US stocks ended Wednesday’s session roughly where they started, as investors took profits in tech names but remained optimistic that an end to the war in the Middle East was near.Despite the day’s see-saw trading, Wall Street strategists remain largely bullish on stocks, with the S&P 500 hovering near all-time highs.An “exceptionally strong first-quarter reporting season” prompted Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by Ben Snider to raise the year-end target for the S&P 500 to 8,000 points from a previous forecast of 7,600. Goldman joins Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank AG in seeing the benchmark end the year at 8,000 points.Elsewhere, Treasuries erased their gains, leaving yields largely unchanged across maturities after they earlier hit the lowest levels in more than a week. The 30-year bond’s yield, which has closed above 5% every day since May 12, approached 4.98% at one point before settling around 5.01%.The failure to strike a deal to end the conflict is threatening to prolong the disruption to oil supplies, which has caused a steep jump in bond yields since late February by rekindling inflation. Central banks including the Federal Reserve are expected to raise interest rates in response.Investors and traders are “looking for something concrete on US and Iran that signals the conflict is coming to an end,” pointing to “a rally in Treasuries along with the decline in oil prices,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management.Corporate Highlights:Salesforce Inc. gave a revenue outlook for the current period that just fell short of analysts’ estimates, unnerving investors already concerned about the possibility that artificial intelligence will disrupt the software business. PDD Holding Inc.’s shares suffered their worst drop in a year after the company’s first-quarter revenue missed expectations in part due to fierce domestic competition and weak consumer sentiment in China. Perella Weinberg Partners is cutting almost 10% of its workforce, including a dozen partners, as the investment bank channels resources into higher-performing areas of its business, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:42 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures were little changed S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.4% CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1629 The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.50 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7772 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7142 CryptocurrenciesBitcoin fell 0.9% to $74,503.43 Ether fell 1.5% to $2,029.43 CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 1% to $89.58 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,458.74 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
