Also helping to calm financial markets was a sharp easing in oil prices.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude sank 4.6 per cent to $US59.19, while Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 4.1 per cent to settle at $US63.76 per barrel. Analysts pointed to comments from President Donald Trump, who said Wednesday afternoon that he heard โon good authorityโ that plans for executions in Iran have stopped amid widespread protests against the countryโs leadership.
Financial markets took that as a signal that tensions flaring above some of the worldโs largest oil deposits could ease and lower the possibility of a disruption to the flow of oil.
Goldโs price edged back 0.3 per cent in another signal of potentially calming nerves across financial markets.
Earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies continued to pick up pace, meanwhile, with several more big financial companies delivering their results for the last three months of 2025.
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BlackRock, the giant thatโs now overseeing more than $US14 trillion in investments, rose 6.3 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.
Morgan Stanley climbed 6.2 per cent after likewise delivering stronger profit and revenue than expected. Goldman Sachs rose 4.5 per cent after the investment bank topped analystsโ forecasts for profit but fell short on revenue.
In the bond market, Treasury yields rose following encouraging reports on the U.S. economy.
One said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication that the pace of layoffs may be slowing. Other reports, meanwhile, said manufacturing was significantly stronger in the mid-Atlantic region and in New York state than economists expected.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.16 per cent from 4.12 per cent just before the release of the reports.
The stronger-than-expected data on the U.S. economy helped stocks of smaller companies to lead the market. Their profits can be tied more closely to the strength of the U.S. economy than their bigger, multinational rivals, and the Russell 2000 index rose 1.2 per cent. Thatโs triple the gain of the S&P 500 index of the biggest companies.
AP
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