Wall Street climbs as SpaceX shares launch, oil slides on Mideast deal hopes

NEW YORK: Wall Street pushed higher on Friday as SpaceX enjoyed a buoyant market debut following the largest ever initial public offering, while oil prices slid on hopes of an agreement to end the Middle East war.

After raising more than US$75 billion in an historic IPO, SpaceX soared in its maiden session on Nasdaq, finishing up 19% and rendering Elon Musk’s company with an overall valuation above US$2 trillion.

Briefing.com characterised the start as “impressive” but said it didn’t necessarily portend further gains.

“The focus now shifts to whether SpaceX can hang onto these opening gains once the initial scarcity premium, institutional allocation scramble, and retail enthusiasm begin to settle,” Briefing said. “The caution is valuation and execution risk.”

Major US stock indices veered intermittently into the red during the session but finished the session positive. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5%

Besides SpaceX, markets were fixated on the mysterious state of play in negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a potential peace deal to end the Middle East war.

Iran suggested an agreement was within reach.

“The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer,” Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote in a social media post.

“Pending its finalisation, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content,” he added.

But US President Donald Trump pivoted from his latest remarks, which had suggested a deal was all but complete, calling the Iranians “very dishonourable people” in the most recent talks.

In any case, oil prices continued a retreat, with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate finishing below US$90 a barrel.

“The market is holding out hope that we’re going to get some type of extended ceasefire between the US and Iran,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, who added that SpaceX’s strong debut raised confidence about other large IPOs expected from OpenAi and Anthropic.

Europe’s main markets gained more than 1%, following big gains in Asia.

“Investors were in a buoyant mood as hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran were revived, having seemingly dropped off the table earlier in the week,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

“Whether momentum can be sustained depends on positive noises about a resolution translating into something more solid in the coming days,” he added.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up almost 3% on Friday, while Seoul’s chip-heavy Kospi gave back earlier gains to end the day more than 4% higher.

The Hang Seng and Shanghai also rallied.