Wall Street ends higher on speculation about end to Iran war

STORY: U.S stocks ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow gaining about half a percent, the S&P 500 adding almost three-quarters of a percent and the Nasdaq climbing more than one percent.President Donald Trump told Reuters on Wednesday that the U.S. will be "out of Iran pretty quickly" and could return for, quote, "spot hits" if needed.And in a social media post, Trump said that Iran had asked for a ceasefire, but that he will consider it only after Tehran stops blocking the Strait of Hormuz. Iran denied that it made any such request.Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, noted that while stocks climbed on Trump's remarks, Wednesday's rally was more muted than the prior session's sharp gains."We still have a fairly high average oil price, WTI [West Texas Intermediate] oil price, for 2026, mainly because of the uncertainty as to whether the Strait of Hormuz will be opened relatively quickly. The Truth Social post indicated that Iran is looking to settle a ceasefire, but I think most investors today sound like they come from Missouri, saying, 'I want to see the facts, I wanna have the proof that this is actually going to happen, so show me before I actually respond too aggressively.'"Trump was scheduled to appear in a televised address about the war Wednesday evening.Among the day's stock moves, technology-related heavyweights rallied, with Alphabet rising nearly 3.5%, and shares of Meta Platforms and Amazon also gaining.News that SpaceX confidentially filed for an initial public offering sent space stocks higher.:: Planet Labs:: SpaceXIntuitive Machines gained 9%, Planet Labs rose 10% and Rocket Lab added 2%. The Destiny Tech100 investment fund, which owns SpaceX shares, jumped by roughly 9%.On the downside, shares of Nike slumped 15.5% to their lowest level in a decade after the sportswear giant forecast a surprise drop in its fourth-quarter sales.