Markets are set to open under the shadow of the Swiss foreign ministry’s announcement that talks between the United States and Iran scheduled for today have been canceled. Overnight, U.S. Vice President JD Vance postponed his trip to the signing ceremony, with the White House blaming “logistical difficulties,” while reports suggested the delay may be linked to Iranian claims of ceasefire violations in Lebanon. Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon were also reported overnight. In Asia, shares are mostly lower this morning, with Tokyo down about 0.3% and Seoul off roughly 2% after it first crossed 9,000 points in the previous session. Trading is closed today in China, Hong Kong and New York because of holidays.
After three straight losing sessions, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange recovered on Wednesday and finished sharply higher, despite opening down more than 1%. The TA-35 rose about 0.9%, the TA-90 about 0.7% and the TA-125 about 0.9%. Banks and cleantech led gains, while oil and gas shares fell about 1.3% and defense stocks lost about 0.7%. PriorTech jumped after news that Access, its Chinese-Israeli subsidiary, is renewing plans for a Shenzhen IPO and aims to raise about $170 million. Next Vision led decliners after its founders said they would sell shares for $200 million. Tower Semiconductor rose after saying Marvell has shipped more than five million coherent optical communication chips made on Tower’s silicon photonics platform.
Wall Street also ended the day and the week higher, led by technology and chip stocks. The Nasdaq climbed about 2%, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% and the Dow gained 0.1%. Intel surged after Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Apple had agreed to work with Intel on designing and building chips in America. Chip shares broadly advanced, with SOXX jumping more than 6% to a record high. Energy stocks fell on lower oil prices, while airlines and cruise lines benefited.
In bonds, U.S. Treasury yields eased at the long end, with the 10-year yield at about 4.42% and the 30-year at 4.89%, while the 2-year yield rose to 4.17%. Local government bond prices also fell. The shekel is trading near 2.94 to the dollar, while the dollar index rose to above 101, its highest level since May 2025. Brent is around $79 a barrel, WTI near $77, gold is around $4,140 an ounce after another sharp decline, and bitcoin is holding near $62,000 after falling more than 4%.
After the Federal Reserve’s hawkish decision on Wednesday, markets now price in more than an 80% chance of at least one U.S. rate hike by year-end, up from about 57% a week earlier. Analysts said the Fed has shifted to a holding pattern, with high rates likely to persist and mortgage costs remaining elevated. UBS warned that exposure to technology has become riskier and told investors to “significantly reduce” their holdings, saying AI and chip stocks have become a highly binary market and that earnings expectations may be too optimistic.
