Among premarket moves, Soleno Therapeutics shares surged about 40 per cent after the Financial Times reported on Sunday that Neurocrine Biosciences was nearing a deal to acquire the rare genetics drugmaker for more than $2.5 billion. U.S.-listed shares of cryptocurrency-linked firms rose, with Coinbase and Strategy up 3.2 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, as bitcoin prices edged higher.
Wall Street’s main indexes ended mixed on Thursday but posted their first weekly gains in six as the prospects of an end to the conflict soothed investor nerves.
Prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, an essential chokepoint in global oil trade, has weighed on energy prices and has reinforced inflation fears.
The U.S. and Iran received a framework of a plan to end the hostilities, a day after President Donald Trump threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not make a deal.
Still, investors drew some comfort from an Axios report, citing four sources with knowledge of the talks, that the U.S., Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire.
Caution lingered as market optimism around prior efforts to resolve the conflict faltered amid conflicting remarks by the U.S. and Iran.