Wall St indexes end higher as investors focus on Mideast peace hopes

STORY: Wall Street stocks finished higher Thursday after a choppy session as oil prices declined.The Dow added about half of one percent while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose less than that.Investors hoped for a Middle East peace deal even as the U.S. and Iran appeared to take directly opposing stances over Tehran's uranium stockpile and control of the Strait of Hormuz.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters there had been "some good signs" in talks with Iran.He also said a diplomatic deal between the two countries would be unfeasible if Tehran implemented a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key conduit for oil transportation.Earlier on Thursday, a Reuters report signaled a hardening stance from Tehran with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issuing a directive that the uranium should not be sent abroad. :: ArchiveHowever, President Donald Trump said the U.S. will eventually recover Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium which Washington believes is destined for a nuclear weapon though Tehran says it is intended purely for peaceful purposes.Investors also reacted to earnings including from Nvidia which fell nearly two percent despite an upbeat revenue forecast from the world’s most valuable company.The decline didn’t surprise Ben McMillan, chief investment officer of IDX Advisors.“I think that's classic. Wall Street's very good at buying the rumor and selling the news. And I think that's what we're seeing with Nvidia is Wall Street has come to expect, especially given that it's been almost three years of blowout earnings like this, the Nvidia bulls are glad that it came in as expected, but the stock is already pretty richly bid.”Walmart also fell after releasing its results though it dropped more than seven percent after the largest global retailer forecast second-quarter profit below estimates and maintained its annual targets. CFO John David Rainey said consumers were feeling pressure from high fuel prices.