Wall Street

Published on 21/04/2026 – 12:14 GMT+2•Updated
12:16

Oil prices edged slightly higher, European indices traded flat, while Asian markets surged on Tuesday morning as investors monitored potential US-Iran negotiations and the final 48 hours of the current ceasefire.

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At the time of writing, US benchmark crude was up 8.5% from last Friday’s low to around $86.3 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was around 9.5% higher at roughly $94.5 a barrel.

As for European markets, the Euro Stoxx 50 and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 were trading within a 0.2% range.

The UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX 30, France’s CAC 40 and Italy’s FTSE MIB were all similarly trading within a 0.3% range.

On Wall Street, US futures were also all trading within a 0.3% range with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading. The S&P 500 closed marginally lower by 0.2% on Monday at 7109 points.

Despite US representatives, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner, travelling to Islamabad as part of renewed efforts to secure an agreement, no concrete progress on US-Iran negotiations has been announced.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed and the current ceasefire ends on Wednesday keeping markets in a state of uncertainty.

US President Donald Trump has asserted that the deal currently being negotiated will be better than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was signed by US President Barack Obama in 2015 and from which Trump withdrew in 2018.

Latest on US-Iran negotiations

Following the arrival of US representatives to Islamabad there has been no developments on the negotiations with Iran.

Even though US President Donald Trump confidently declared that there is a historic deal in the works, public statements from major Iranian figures seem to indicate otherwise.

Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and the person previously heading the talks with the US, made sweeping declarations via X on Monday stating that the country will “not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats” and “has prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

Previously, other Iranian representatives have also described US demands as “excessive”.

For the time being, markets eagerly await developments and are highly sensitive to any headlines about the situation.

Associated British Foods and Primark demerger

Although European markets are trading flat, major news in the retail consumer sector has come out of the UK.

Associated British Foods (ABF) is poised to announce the outcome this week of a strategic review into demerging its fast-fashion retail arm Primark, from its diversified food business.

The conglomerate, controlled by the billionaire Weston family, has been working with advisers from Rothschild & Co to assess whether the split would maximise long-term shareholder value.

Analysts argue the move makes sense because of the limited operational synergies between the two divisions: the food arm generates steady cash flows from brands such as Twinings, Patak’s, Jordans cereals and Allied Bakeries, while Primark has pursued aggressive international expansion in a fiercely competitive retail sector.

The decision comes as ABF faces tough trading conditions, with the group warning in January of flat annual sales and declining profits, further pressured by rising costs and the fallout from the Iran conflict, including potential increases in petrochemical prices.

The index provider reviews the S&P 500 every quarter using rigorous criteria on market capitalisation, profitability, liquidity and sector balance to ensure it reflects the largest and most representative top 500 US companies.

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The latest update will bring Vertiv Holdings, Lumentum Holdings, Coherent Corp. and EchoStar Corporation into the index.

They replace Match Group, Molina Healthcare, Lamb Weston Holdings and Paycom Software, with the changes taking effect before the market opens on Monday 23 March.

With trillions of dollars in assets tracking the S&P 500, the rebalance typically prompts buying from passive funds, often providing a short-term lift to new members.

Shortly after the S&P Global announcement, on Friday 6 March, all four companies’ shares rose on average 8% as investors began anticipating the increased flow.

Three out of the four incoming firms supply critical infrastructure for the AI boom, from power and cooling systems to high-speed optical components.

According to S&P Global, the changes show how sustained AI investment has become a structural force in the market, to the point that it is reshaping the index composition.

Big Tech is guiding for roughly €600bn in AI spending this year alone.

Vertiv

Vertiv Holdings specialises in critical digital infrastructure, offering power management, thermal management and modular systems that support high-density computing in data centres.

The company has seen explosive demand for liquid cooling and high-power solutions as AI workloads drive energy consumption far beyond conventional levels.

According to Vertiv’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings, released in February, organic orders grew 252% year-on-year in the final quarter, pushing its backlog to $15bn (€13bn) –– a 109% rise from the previous year.

The book-to-bill ratio reached approximately 2.9 times and full-year 2026 guidance points to organic sales growth of 27% to 29%, indicating very strong requisition.

The firm’s strong performance reflects its central role in enabling the hyperscalers’ expansion of AI infrastructure.

Inclusion in the S&P 500 is expected to increase visibility and liquidity through passive fund inflows. This milestone underscores Vertiv’s evolution into a key enabler of the physical infrastructure powering AI growth.

Lumentum

Lumentum Holdings develops advanced optical components, lasers and transceivers that deliver the ultra-high-speed connectivity required inside data centres and across communications networks.

Its products are essential for handling the massive bandwidth demands of AI model training and inference.

In early March, Nvidia announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Lumentum that includes a $2bn (€1.7bn) investment to expand capacity, advance US-based manufacturing and deepen research and development collaborations.

This partnership came alongside multibillion-dollar purchase commitments for advanced laser components.

The S&P 500 addition elevates the profile of optical technologies as a foundational layer in next-generation AI infrastructure.

For Lumentum, the move reinforces its position as a critical supplier in the race to scale AI systems efficiently and at unprecedented speeds.

Coherent

Coherent Corp. focuses on photonics and laser technologies, with a strong emphasis on silicon photonics and high-speed optical interconnects designed for large-scale AI computing clusters.

The company has repositioned its portfolio to tackle latency and power-efficiency challenges in hyperscale environments.

Similar to Lumentum, the company recently disclosed a parallel strategic partnership with Nvidia, also including a $2bn (€1.7bn) investment and multibillion-dollar purchase commitments for advanced optics.

The collaboration targets technologies vital for future data centre architectures and supports expanding US manufacturing.

The S&P 500 inclusion recognises Coherent’s transformation and the structural demand from global AI build-outs.

Greater institutional interest and enhanced liquidity are widely expected once the rebalance takes effect. This development cements the company’s role as an indispensable partner in the infrastructure underpinning rapid advances in AI.

EchoStar

EchoStar Corporation is the outlier of the group as it is the only company being added to the S&P 500 that is not directly tied to the expansion of AI infrastructure.

The firm delivers satellite communications, video entertainment and broadband services, primarily through its DISH network operations.

The addition brings dedicated exposure to the communications sector, balancing the heavy tilt toward AI infrastructure providers in this quarterly update.

In line with its fellow entrants, EchoStar has delivered triple-digit gains over the past year, reflecting resilience in the telecom space amid broader technology shifts.

The move complements the data centre focus of the other new companies and underscores how communications continues to shape the composition of the US’ flagship equity index.

The quarterly adjustments follow a pattern of the S&P 500 evolving alongside technological shifts. While passive inflows deliver an immediate boost, the longer-term impact lies in better alignment with the sectors driving the modern economy.