James Gruber

And the astonishing rise of semiconductor stocks.

Good morning, I'm James Gruber.

And I'm Gillian Bowen.

It's Friday the 8th of May and this is the morning edition of the ComSec Market Update.

Yeah, well, the Wall Street Journal is reporting some fresh reaction to this latest plan from Iran.

Iran is describing the plan as unrealistic, and it says it won't allow the opening of the strait and for the US to exit the conflict without any reparations.

A reminder, the ceasefire was announced back in April 7.

And so, as you'd expect, volatility is back for stocks and oil prices.

Well, shortly after 6am this morning, the ASX 200 futures were pointing to a drop of 1.5% at the open to $8,766.

That's a pretty big fall given what's happened overseas.

Earnings reports from Macquarie and others will have some part to play in how the day on markets unfolds, as well as any further murmurings out of the Middle East.

It has.

Oil prices were pretty volatile during the session after a report said Iran would not allow the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with an unrealistic plan.

Brent crude futures settled down 1.2% to just above US$100 a barrel.

Base metal prices were slightly lower on Thursday as investors weighed the latest developments in Iran.

Copper futures slipped 0.1% while aluminium futures fell 0.5%.

Gold futures rose for a third consecutive session on Thursday on bargain hunting in hopes for a Middle East deal.

The futures settled up 0.5% to US$4,711 an ounce.

Meanwhile, iron ore futures edged up 0.1% to 110.95 US dollars a tonne.

So Wall Street edged down from record highs it actually hit earlier in the session, pressured by a pullback in chipmakers following a recent rally, while investors awaited developments in U.S.-Iran peace talks, as well as unemployment numbers for the U.S., which are due on Friday their time.