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U.S. stock indexes climbed to record highs and oil prices fell after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a 60-day memorandum of understanding extending their ceasefire, according to CNBC.
Stock futures pointed to further gains on Friday, the final trading session of May. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81 points, equivalent to a 0.2% rise, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq $NDAQ 100 futures also edging up 0.1% apiece. Among energy contracts, Brent crude retreated 2% to $91.80 per barrel, and WTI slid more than 2% to settle at $86.89 per barrel.
A cumulative decline of nearly 18% through Thursday puts Brent on track for a monthly loss not seen since March 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal. Thursday's Axios reporting on ceasefire negotiations pushed Wall Street benchmarks to fresh all-time highs, and markets across Asia carried the momentum forward, with major indexes in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea posting gains of at least 2.5%, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Across a full week of trading, the Nasdaq Composite is the strongest performer among the major averages at better than 2%, trailed by the S&P 500 at more than 1% and the Dow, which has notched a sub-1% advance — all three poised to finish the week in positive territory. Looking at May in full, the Nasdaq's roughly 8% climb leads the monthly scoreboard, ahead of the S&P 500's near-5% rise and a 2% advance for the Dow. The Nasdaq is also on pace for its largest two-month percentage gain since April 2009, at 24% over that stretch, according to the Journal.
