US markets close higher, fuelled by cheaper oil

Wall Street stocks rebounded on Friday to finish a volatile week on a positive note, greeting a drop in oil prices on hopes for a US-Iran agreement that could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 478.64 points, or 0.9 percent, to 51,828.62, the S&P 500 gained 39.38 points or 0.5 percent to 7,743.41, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 129.35 points, or 0.5 percent to 27,068. Markets weighed mixed signals from the UN General Assembly in New York this week on the state of play between Washington and Tehran. While both US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian included tough rhetoric against each other in UN addresses, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposed a plan that would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. "It is a dubious offer considering Iran hasn't changed its conditions from before," said Patrick O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com. "We'll see how long the glow of Iran's offer lasts." But Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones said "there is some hope for a diplomatic way to the war in the Middle East with oil prices falling a little bit today." Investors seemed to settle on a...