S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at all-time highs

“The blue chip results are nice to see, yet this market is probably waiting on a stronger directional cue from the response to earnings reports from Facebook and Amazon later in the week,” Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said.

Meanwhile, world oil prices struck fresh 2019 highs a day after the White House announced it would end six-month waivers that had exempted numerous countries from US sanctions for buying Iranian oil.

The White House’s announcement means that eight countries — China, India, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and Greece — will face sanctions starting in May if they continue to buy oil from Iran.

“This points to a big drop in the supply side, which boosts the commodity’s price,” said Margaret Yang Yan, market analyst at CMC Markets Singapore.

Stephen Innes, head of trading and market strategy at SPI Asset Management, said rising crude prices meant $80 per barrel was now a “possibility”.

“Oil quickly re-priced higher on fears that markets could face an immediate supply crunch, adding more pressure to the already tenuous global supply squeeze,” he added.

Energy and oil-linked shares jumped on Tuesday, with Tokyo-listed crude developer Inpex rallying 2.8% and oil refiner JXTG up 1.1%. In London, BP shot up 2.7% and Shell 2.3%. Tuesday’s gains by US giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron were modest after they already rallied on Monday.

AFP