Middle East Ceasefire on Tenuous Hold; U.S. and Iran Negotiators to Meet in Pakistan Saturday; Strait of Hormuz Closed, May Re-Open Conditionally

An eerie calm has settled over the embattled countries of the Middle East Thursday morning (Thursday afternoon in the region).

Either the warring parties are honoring the principles of ceasefire or there's a large-scale media blackout in the region. Reasonable thinkers will be hopeful that the conditions are more of the former and less of the latter. Likely, it's a bit of both.

After Wednesday's barrage of assaults by both Iran and Israel against countries in the Gulf region and Hezbollah in Lebanon, respectively, there doesn't appear to be any follow-up. As best as can be determined, Iran did not retaliate against Israel with missile strikes and Israel hasn't attacked Iran in any noticeable manner. Iran, after opening the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, quickly reversed course and closed the chokepoint waterway, apparently in response to Israel's attacks in Lebanon. There's reason to believe that Iran will re-open the Strait conditionally if the ceasefire holds.

The most positive sign that the ceasefire is holding is that the U.S. has apparently halted military operations, with no airstrikes as of Thursday morning.

The main parties of interest, Iran and the U.S., were supposed to meet for more formal negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan on Friday, though it appears the meetings have been pushed back to Saturday. There were conflicting reports concerning Vice President J.D. Vance leading the U.S. delegation, though the most recent news is that he will indeed be in attendance.

With the ceasefire merely more than a day old, it does appear that all sides are taking a breather. On Wall Street, the mood is noticeably less positive than on Wednesday, when all markets worldwide shot significantly higher. It seems even the monied types aren't sure about the future of peace talks.

With U.S. markets set to open in less than half an hour, Dow futures are off by 162 points, the NASDAQ is lower by 62, and the S&P is down 17 points.

Gold and silver have flatlined for the most part, holding onto most of their Wednesday gains. Gold is steady around $4,740, with silver hugging $74 an ounce. WTI crude has settled into a range between $90 and $93 per barrel.

What happens next is anybody's guess, but the most likely outcome is for the U.S. to ease away from the region as gently as possible.

Elsewhere, the BLS is set to deliver March CPI figures Friday, prior to the opening bell.

Wait and see.

At the Close, Wednesday, April 8, 2026:
Dow: 47,909.92, +1,325.46 (+2.85%)
NASDAQ: 22,634.99, +617.14 (+2.80%)
S&P 500: 6,782.81, +165.96 (+2.51%)
NYSE Composite: 22,798.05, +548.42 (+2.46%)