Oil Prices Decline as Stocks Rise Amid Middle East Peace Talks

Oil prices declined on Thursday as investors grew optimistic about potential progress in Middle East peace talks, despite ongoing disagreements between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's uranium stockpile and control of the Strait of Hormuz. A senior Iranian source indicated that while no deal has been reached, the gaps have been narrowed. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted "some good signs" in the discussions but emphasized that any toll system in the strait would be unacceptable. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. will eventually recover Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Earlier in the day, oil prices had risen, but major U.S. stock indexes were lower following reports that Iran's supreme leader directed that the country's near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad. However, markets rebounded in the afternoon. U.S. crude fell $1.91 to settle at $96.35 per barrel, while Brent declined $2.44 to $102.58.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 276.31 points, or 0.55%, to 50,285.66; the S&P 500 increased 12.75 points, or 0.17%, to 7,445.72; and the Nasdaq Composite added 22.74 points, or 0.09%, to 26,293.10. Shares of Nvidia, the world's largest company by market capitalization, ended down 1.8% as investors took profits after recent gains. Nvidia had reported earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations and announced an $80 billion share repurchase program.

IBM shares rose 12.4% following news that the Trump administration will fund several quantum computing companies, including a new IBM venture, in exchange for stakes in some of the firms. Shares of D-Wave Quantum and other quantum computing stocks also saw significant gains.

In Turkey, trading on the stock market was temporarily halted after sharp declines, and government bonds slid following a court decision that annulled the Republican People's Party congress in 2023, where its chairman, Ozgur Ozel, was elected. The U.S.-traded iShares MSCI Turkey ETF fell 9.2%.

The dollar index remained flat late on Thursday as traders weighed the likelihood of a near-term deal to end the war, having earlier touched a six-week high. The index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was unchanged at 99.13, with the euro down 0.03% at $1.1624. Spot gold fell 0.04% to $4,541.79 an ounce.