Shares of energy companies rose as an oil rally continued.

Oil futures rose 3% to close above the $80 per barrel level for the first time since August.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to pause their fighting in the Gaza Strip, Arab mediators and an Israeli official said, opening a pathway to end a 15-month war that has laid waste to the enclave, threatened to spark a regional conflict, and roiled politics in the West.

Regional dynamics played an important role. Israel is increasingly focused on reining in Iran's nuclear program and well aware that both Biden and Trump support sealing the Gaza deal over the next week.

Hamas, meanwhile, has been gravely weakened by the Israeli military, which also decimated Hezbollah in Lebanon.

U.S. natural gas futures post their highest settle level since January 2023 ahead of a weekly storage report that's expected to show the first of several outsized inventory drawdowns.


Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-15-25 1730ET