S&P 500 Jumps as SpaceX Debut Nears

S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes rallied sharply on Thursday after President Donald Trump said planned US strikes on Iran had been cancelled and suggested a peace agreement could be reached soon. SpaceX begins trading on Nasdaq today after raising a record $75 billion in its initial public offering, valuing the company at $1.77 trillion. The FTSE 100 posted modest gains, supported by financial stocks including HSBC, Standard Chartered and Prudential, while oil prices fell to two-month lows and the US dollar steadied after recent weakness.

Equities

The FTSE 100 closed 0.5% higher on Thursday at 10,303.9, while the FTSE 250 added 0.1%. Financial stocks led the advance, with HSBC rising 2.2%, Standard Chartered gaining 3.4% and Prudential climbing 2.5% as investors returned to banking and insurance shares following recent weakness linked to tighter Chinese cross-border investment rules.

Mining stocks also supported the London market. Rio Tinto and Glencore both closed around 2% higher, helping the industrial metals sector gain 1.8%. Frasers Group added 1% after launching a €2 billion takeover offer for German fashion company Hugo Boss, extending Mike Ashley’s efforts to expand the retailer’s international footprint.

Wizz Air jumped 6% after reporting operating profit ahead of analysts’ expectations. The airline cautioned that first-quarter revenue per available seat kilometre is expected to be lower because of disruption linked to the conflict involving Iran. Halma fell 15.4% after forecasting slower organic constant-currency revenue growth for fiscal 2027. In technology, Relx dropped 3.4% and Sage Group lost 5.3% as concerns grew about rising corporate spending on artificial intelligence and the potential impact on traditional software providers.

In the United States, stocks rallied strongly on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 1.75% to 7,394.30, the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.54% to 25,809.66 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.86% to 50,848.75. Markets strengthened after President Donald Trump said planned US strikes against Iran had been cancelled and suggested a peace agreement could be reached soon.

Chipmakers drove much of the advance. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 7.9%, marking its strongest daily gain since April 2025 and helping lift the broader technology sector after recent declines.

Oracle shares fell 8.5% after the company outlined fiscal 2027 capital expenditure plans that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Investors focused on the scale of spending required to support artificial intelligence infrastructure, despite continued demand for AI-related services.

Attention is now turning to SpaceX, which priced its record-breaking initial public offering at $135 per share on Thursday. The flotation raised $75 billion and valued the company at $1.77 trillion ahead of its expected Nasdaq debut on Friday.

Forex & Commodities

The US dollar strengthened on Friday after falling earlier in the week, with the currency rising to ¥160.2 against the Japanese yen. The euro held near a one-week high at $1.157 following the European Central Bank’s first interest-rate increase in nearly three years on Thursday, while sterling was little changed at $1.342 against the dollar.

The dollar index traded at 99.74 after touching a one-week low on Thursday. The Australian dollar slipped to $0.7045 and the New Zealand dollar eased to $0.5824.

Fresh US economic data released on Thursday showed producer prices rose more than expected in May, marking the largest annual increase in three and a half years as higher energy costs pushed up inflation pressures. However, core producer price inflation came in below forecasts, helping to ease concerns about underlying price growth.

Gold prices fell on Friday and remained on course for a weekly decline. Spot gold traded at $4,182 per ounce after falling to a more than six-month low on Thursday before recovering later in the session. Traders continue to assess the outlook for US interest rates and developments in negotiations between the United States and Iran. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, also declined during the week, while ANZ reduced its year-end gold price forecast to $5,200 per ounce.

Oil prices extended their losses on Friday after President Donald Trump cancelled planned military strikes against Iran and said a peace agreement could be reached as soon as this weekend. Brent crude traded at $88.55 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $86.11.