Markets return to gains on Middle East ceasefire day

Markets returned to gains on the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, after the two countries agreed to a proposal by US President Donald Trump.

However, there is still no formal agreement, which led to an exchange of missiles on Tuesday morning. The truce was scheduled to begin at 04:00 GMT, but Iran said it would only recognize the start at 04:00 Iranian Standard Time (00:30 GMT).

The Portuguese stock exchange closed Tuesday with a rise of 0.57% to 7,452.08 points. Mota-Engil led the session, with a gain of 3.91% to 3.724 euros, followed by BCP which increased 2.83% to 0.6684 euros.

The main European markets also closed the day recording gains, with the CAC40 increasing 1.04% to 7,615.99 points and the IBEX35 gaining 1.44% to 14,039.30 points.

Despite the optimism on the stock exchanges, the oil market saw significant declines, with Texas WTI falling 5.79%, setting the price per barrel at $64.61 and Brent falling 5.70% to $66.49.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Wall Street also returned to gains, with the Dow Jones rising 0.68%, to 42,869.90 points, the financial S&P 500 gaining 0.74%, to 42,869.90 points and the technological Nasdaq adding 0.93%.

In addition to the ceasefire, markets were encouraged by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, after he stated that the central bank needed more time to see whether rising interest rates would cause the country's inflation to rise.