Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving.
Equities pushed higher across the board Wednesday, with the S&P five hundred gaining nearly one percent, the Dow up close to one percent, and the Nasdaq one hundred leading the charge at over one percent. Strong tech earnings and growing optimism around a potential US-Iran peace deal gave traders reason to buy, with futures pointing to continued momentum heading into Thursday.
Shifting to commodities, that same Iran peace optimism rippled through energy and soft markets. Natural gas fell over two percent as a drop in US LNG exports raised expectations of swelling domestic inventories. Sugar sank more than three and a half percent in New York, as falling gasoline prices weakened the economic case for ethanol production, potentially freeing up more cane supply for sugar markets.
On the earnings front, Host Hotels and Resorts delivered a standout quarter, with net income doubling year over year to five hundred one million dollars, or seventy-two cents a share, compared to thirty-five cents this time last year. The lodging REIT also lifted its full-year two thousand twenty-six outlook, signaling confidence in sustained travel demand through the back half of the year.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
