U.S. Stock Market: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq to be driven by these factors on Thursday. Details here

U.S. Stock Market investors on Thursday would hope that major Wall Street indexes -- S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq -- will make gains as all eyes are on a high-stakes televised address from U.S. President Donald Trump that is expected to shed light on a possible ceasefire in the Gulf war. On Wednesday, S&P 500 rose 46.80 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6,575.32, Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 224.23 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 46,565.74, Nasdaq composite rose 250.32 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 21,840.95, Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 15.99 points, or 0.6 per cent to 2,512.37.

Donald Trump Speech

In Trump's national address scheduled for 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT), the president is expected to say the U.S. military has accomplished its wartime goals with Iran and reiterate plans to ‌wind down the ⁠conflict within ⁠two to three weeks - remarks that could set the tone for global markets.

Beyond Trump's speech later today, attention will turn ​to Friday's non-farm payrolls report. The market is looking for a 60,000 rise in jobs for March, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Reuters.

A sharp deterioration in the labor market could likely revive expectations for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, which have been largely priced out as sharply rising oil prices from the Iran war stoked inflation concerns.

Global Stocks, Oil Prices

Stocks jumped higher worldwide, and oil prices eased as hopes built that the war with Iran could end soon. That’s even though some of the signals investors saw as hopeful on Wednesday are already under dispute.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent and added to its leap from the day before, which was its best since last spring. That followed even bigger gains for markets across Europe and Asia, including an 8.4 per cent surge in South Korea, which were catching up to Wall Street’s rally from Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2 per cent.

For the week, S&P 500 is up 206.47 points, or 3.2 per cent, Dow Jones is up 1,399.10 points, or 3.1 per cent, Nasdaq is up 892.59 points, or 4.3 per cent, Russell 2000 is up 62.67 points, or 2.6 per cent.

For the year, S&P 500 is down 270.18 points, or 3.9 per cent, Dow Jones is down 1,497.55 points, or 3.1 per cent, Nasdaq is down 1,401.04 points, or 6 per cent, Russell 2000 is up 30.46 points, or 1.2 per cent.

US Dollar vs Major Currencies

Major currencies held steady in thin trading on Thursday, as ​investors awaited a high-stakes televised address ​from U.S. President Donald Trump that is expected to shed light on ​a possible ceasefire in the Gulf war.

The U.S. dollar has benefited from a ​safe-haven bid since the conflict began in late February. Expectations that a ceasefire could be near have reversed ​some of the markets' most popular trades and put the greenback on a two-day decline.

The euro stood at $1.1592 and the sterling fetched $1.3308, both scarcely changed versus the dollar in early Asian ​trade while retaining recent gains. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar and the ⁠New Zealand ‌dollar were also steady, trading at $0.69265 and $0.57495, respectively.

The dollar index, which measures ​the currency against ​a basket of currencies, was little changed at 99.56 after a 0.3 per cent ⁠decline on Wednesday. The ⁠Japanese yen traded at 158.64, away from the psychologically important 160 level seen as the line in the sand for intervention by Japanese authorities.