Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com

US STOCKS GAIN AS IRAN PEACE OPTIMISM, AI MOMENTUM FUEL RALLY

Wall Street's main indexes are gaining early on Wednesday and extending their strong run on hopes of a potential U.S.-Iran peace agreement and sustained enthusiasm around artificial intelligence.

The rally, which propelled the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC to record highs on Tuesday, is showing few signs of easing after Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O forecast second-quarter revenue above expectations, driven by robust demand for its data-center chips.

A majority of S&P 500 sectors are higher with materials .SPLRCM, up more than 1.8%, posting the biggest rise. Energy .SPNY, sliding around 4%, is the weakest group. NYMEX crude futures CLc1 are down around 7%.

Under the surface, regional banks .KRX, big banks .SPXBK, and chip stocks .SOX are among the outperformers. Gold/silver miners are especially strong. The XAU index .XAU is up around 8%, and on track for its biggest daily gain since April 2025.

Software & Services .SPLRCIS is on the losing side.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood around 10:04 a.m. EDT.

(Terence Gabriel)

*****

EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

S&P 500 TESTS THE CEILING AS BULLS STEP ON THE GAS CLICK HERE

STOCKS TOUCH FRESH HIGHS, BUT SUPPORT NARROW - MFS IM CLICK HERE

ENERGY SHOCK NOT A MAJOR CHALLENGE TO EURO ZONE FISCAL POLICY CLICK HERE

BANKS, MINERS, AUTOS AND TRAVEL BOOSTED BY MIDEAST HEADLINES CLICK HERE

EUROPEAN OPTIMISM CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: TECH SURGE, EARNINGS POINT TO OPENING GAINS CLICK HERE

MORNING BID: STOCKS SURGE IN SEOUL AS SAMSUNG SURPASSES BERKSHIRE CLICK HERE