Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on April 08, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stock futures ticked lower on Thursday night as traders kept an eye on the fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures traded about 0.2% lower. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53 points, or 0.1%.
Stocks advanced on Thursday, extending their gains this week after President Donald Trump agreed to pause attacks on Iran for two weeks. The S&P 500 rose 0.62%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.83%. The 30-stock Dow climbed 275.88 points, or 0.58%, in the session and crept into positive territory for 2026.
Oil prices came off their highs of the day and the S&P 500 rose after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country had agreed to negotiate with Lebanon “as soon as possible.” Tehran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf cited Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon as a violation of the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
On Tuesday night, Trump agreed to a two-week extension of his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Middle East conflict, which has already been going on for five weeks, resulted in the closure of the key waterway.
Stocks surged on Wednesday following the news of the ceasefire, with all three major indexes jumping more than 2%. The Dow notched its best day since April 2025.
Stephen Parker, co-head of global investment strategy at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, believes that the relief rally has sustainable legs going forward.
“The size of the drawdown that we’ve seen in equity markets, particularly in the U.S., probably doesn’t feel big enough relative to the move and the shock that we saw in energy markets, but I think that’s reflective of a view that energy prices are likely to come down,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday afternoon.
“Our base case is one where energy prices continue to gradually move lower over the next three to six months,” he added. “We take a little bit of a hit to growth, a little bit of a pickup in inflation, but overall, that’s still a very constructive environment for equities, particularly as we get into earnings season, which we think will be really positive.”
The major averages are on pace for solid weekly gains. The S&P 500 has jumped nearly 3.7% through Thursday’s close, tracking for its best week since November. The Dow has gained 3.6% week to date, while the Nasdaq is on pace to rise 4.3%.
On the economic front, traders will watch for March’s consumer price index reading. Economists polled by Dow Jones see a month over month increase of 0.9% and a 3.3% gain over the prior 12 months. Durable goods and factory orders are also due out.
