Updated September 4, 2026 — 6:12am,first published 5:16am
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Gains in big technology stocks and easing bond yields helped lift Wall Street even as oil prices ticked higher amid an escalation in the US war with Iran.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1 per cent, with technology stocks powering much of the gains. The Dow climbed 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.4 per cent.
The Australian sharemarket is set for gains, with futures at 5.59am AEST pointing to a gain of 28 points, or 0.3 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.5 per cent on Thursday to snap a three-session losing streak. The Australian dollar is stronger at US72.05¢.
Gains in big technology and communication services stocks led Wall Street higher. Their large market values tend to give them more influence over the broader market’s direction.
Microsoft rose 2.7 per cent, Apple gained 1 per cent and Meta climbed 3 per cent.
Giant chip maker Nvidia, whose high-end chips have emerged as AI’s best building blocks, rose 1.8 per cent after saying it would buy the artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $US13 billion ($18 billion).
Oil prices ticked higher as the six-month long US war with Iran intensified.
Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for US bombardments earlier in the week. The fighting between the US and Iran heated up after the US hit Iranian rocket launchers Sunday on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran was planning to use them to send mines into the waterway.
The renewed fighting has sent US crude prices sharply higher this week, though the momentum cooled Thursday. After rising in the early going, the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was down 0.1 per cent to $US95.55 per barrel. Benchmark US crude rose 0.5 per cent to $US91.51 a barrel.
Rising oil prices have added to existing inflationary pressures and exacerbated a bond-market sell-off earlier this week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, dropped to 4.76 per cent from 4.79 per cent late on Wednesday. It has been rising steadily throughout the year and was as low as 4.20 per cent at the beginning of 2026.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Federal Reserve moves on interest rates, slid to 4.33 per cent from 4.39 per cent. It remains significantly higher for the year, though, and was as low as 3.50 per cent at the beginning of 2026.
Traders had their eye on several companies following their latest quarterly snapshots.
