Stocks and bonds rally as hopes grow for end to West Asia conflict | Markets News

Brent crude hovered near $94 a barrel. The S&P 500 extended gains into a sixth straight session. Treasury yields dropped across the curve. Negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme, but US President Donald Trump has yet to give it his final approval, two US officials told Axios.  Clashes between the US and Iran had earlier kept a lid on financial markets, highlighting the fragility of their truce and the challenge of forging a peace deal that would restore global energy flows. “Markets continue to get whipsawed by swings in Iran war sentiment,” said Elias Haddad at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 

Gold rebounds after report says US, Iran working to extend ceasefire 

Gold prices reversed course to rise on Thursday, rebounding from a two-month low hit earlier in the session, as the US dollar and oil prices eased following a report that said the US and Iran were working to extend a ceasefire. Spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at $4,477.59 per ounce by 1508 GMT, after falling to its lowest level since late March earlier. US gold futures rose 0.6 per cent to $4,475.60.  [Reuters]