U.S. stock futures are relatively flat in premarket trading after another solid day of gains on Tuesday. The benchmark S&P 500 (SPX) settled 0.5% off its record high from January and is up 6.7% in April. Tuesday marked the index’s ninth positive session in 10, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 (NDX) also posted its 10th straight session of gains.

Investors sent stocks higher on the potential of a deal between the U.S. and Iran materializing which had Oil prices down 6% on Tuesday. The U.S. blockade targeting Iranian ports could further pressure remaining flows, with Washington reporting that several vessels had already turned back in the first 24 hours, even as transit via non-Iranian ports continues. Investor focus remains on the Middle East headlines, oil prices and more earnings this morning from ASML, Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are up over 1% near $92 a barrel after falling 6% on Tuesday amid rising optimism that the Middle East conflict could see a diplomatic resolution. Crude futures hit 3-week lows overnight near $86 a barrel but have caught a bid this morning.

• Gold (/GC) – Gold futures are down 0.5% near $4825 and eased from one-month highs with investors gauging ​developments surrounding U.S.-Iran talks ​to bring hostilities in the Middle East to an end, as oil prices stayed firm on supply concerns from the Strait of Hormuz closure. 

• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is relatively flat near 74,000 in premarket trading.

• VIX –The CBOE Volatility Index was down 4% on Tuesday and settled at 18.36 as stocks were higher. It was the lowest closing price for the VIX since February 25^th .

• U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is relatively flat in the session, trading at 98.24.

• Piper Sandler upgrades Cloudflare (NET) to Overweight from Neutral

• Macquarie upgrades JD.com (JD) to Outperform from Neutral

• Mizuho upgrades American Tower (AMT) to Outperform from Neutral

• Wolfe Research downgrades Shift4 Payments (FOUR) to Peer Perform from Outperform

• Goldman Sachs downgrades SolarEdge (SEDG) to Sell from Neutral

• Jefferies downgrades Autoliv (ALV) to Hold from Buy

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