US pre-open: Futures surge on two-week Iran ceasefire
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 08 Apr 2026
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were firmly in the green ahead of the bell on Wednesday after Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
As of 1245 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 2.29%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 2.54% and 3.23% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 85.42 points lower on Tuesday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session as equities came off their lows after Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Donald Trump to extend his deadline for striking Iran's bridges and power plants by two weeks. Sharif also urged Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for the same period as a "goodwill gesture".
Futures jumped early on Wednesday after Trump said he would suspend planned attacks on Iran for two weeks ahead of his 2000 ET deadline, pausing a five‑week conflict that had shut a key global energy corridor and rattled markets.
Trump said the US had received a 10‑point proposal from Iran that he viewed as a workable basis for negotiations, adding that the ceasefire would depend on Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Iran's foreign ministry, the country's Supreme National Security Council agreed to reopen the waterway for two weeks provided all attacks were halted, with transit to be coordinated with Iran's armed forces. Israel also agreed to the pause, but said the two-week truce would not extend to ongoing military operations in Lebanon.
Lebanon was drawn into the conflict after Iran-aligned Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel on 2 March in retaliation for Israel's killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Israel's near-daily violations of a ceasefire it had agreed to in November 2024.
Oil prices slumped following the announcement, with West Texas Intermediate down 14.5% at $96.57 a barrel and benchmark Brent crude falling 13.45% to $94.57.
Outside of Middle East developments, Wednesday's primary focus will likely be minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest two-day plicy meeting, due out at 1900 BST, with investors hoping to gain further insight into the central bank's thinking
Elsewhere on the macro front, US mortgage applications slipped 0.8% in the week ended 3 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, extending the 28.5% cumulative decline seen over the previous three weeks. Last week's pullback came even as benchmark mortgage rates retreated from last prior week's seven‑month high, as longer‑dated Treasury yields eased on reduced expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening. Applications to refinance a mortgate, which tend to be more sensitive to short‑term rate moves, fell 3%, while applications to purchase a home edged up 1% week-on-week - but were down 7% year-on-year, marking the first annual decline since January 2025.
In the corporate space, Delta Air Lines reported March-quarter earnings in line with guidance, as strong travel demand helped offset a sharp rise in fuel costs driven by the Iran conflict. On an adjusted basis, Delta reported record March-quarter revenue of $14.2bn, up 9.4%, with pre-tax income of $532m and earnings per share of $0.64, ahead of market expectations.
Still to come, Constellation Brands was slated to publish its latest quarterly earnings figures after the close.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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