James Gruber

Meanwhile, aluminium futures hit a four-year high, up 0.9% on Middle East supply worries.

Gold futures dipped on Thursday after hitting one-month highs in the previous session.

The futures settled down 0.3% to US$4,808 an ounce.

Iron ore futures were also relatively steady, up 0.3% to US$107.11.

Well, it's interesting, Gil.

A moment ago, we were talking about how the oil market and investors had doubts there about the impact of second round ceasefire talks and how they were impacting prices.

But over on Wall Street, it appears there's optimism surrounding the war's future and that the worst of the conflict may have passed.

In particular, the development in regards to the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

As for stock movements, software stocks and energy shares rose 1.6% to 1.4%, respectively.

Dell Technologies jumped almost 9% after a positive broker report.

PepsiCo gained 2.3% after beating quarterly profit estimates.

Abbott Laboratories declined 5.2% to its lowest level since November 2023 after cutting its four-year profit forecast, while Charles Schwab and Travelers fell 7.6% and 0.4% respectively after their results.

Netflix is also due to report after the market's close, its shares were 0.5% higher.

Lithium producer Albemarle soared 13.5% amid rising lithium prices.

Meanwhile, US government bond yields increased on Thursday as traders assessed the likely path of interest rates, with policymakers weighing competing risks to inflation and growth.

Data showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000 for the week ending April 11, suggesting labor market conditions remain stable.

The U.S.

10-year Treasury yield was up 3 points to 4.31%, while the U.S.

2-year Treasury yield was up 1 point to 3.78%.

Well, it's Friday, and what better way to end the week than talk about meme stocks, as in M-E-M-E.