Dow Jones Stalls as Iran Delivers New Peace Plan; Tech Rally Continues

The Dow Jones (DJIA) is trading lower on Friday and has reversed all of its early morning gains.

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Earlier this week, White House envoy Steve Witkoff responded to Iran’s initial peace proposal, which requested an end to the war and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iranian ports while postponing nuclear negotiations. One of the amendments Witkoff sent called for Iran to leave its enriched uranium in bombed facilities, with a commitment to not resume operations at those sites, a source familiar with the situation told Axios.

In a back-and-forth exchange, Iran has submitted its response to Witkoff’s proposal, although the terms of the response haven’t been publicized. The future of Iran’s nuclear program remains a key sticking point between the two sides.

“We do not detail private diplomatic conversations,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly. “President Trump has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, and negotiations continue to ensure the short- and long-term national security of the United States.”

Elsewhere, Fed President Neel Kashkari cautioned about the possibility of a “series” of rate hikes if Hormuz remains closed for an extended period of time. However, rate cuts could occur if the waterway sees a “fairly quick reopening” and inflation winds down. Kashkari noted that the Fed should take on a data-driven approach and be open to both rate hikes and cuts.

The Dow Jones is down by 0.15% at the time of writing.

Which Stocks are Moving the Dow Jones?

Let’s pivot to TipRanks’ Dow Jones Heatmap, which illustrates the stocks that have contributed to the index’s price action.

Apple (AAPL) is leading the tech sector higher after the company’s first-quarter earnings report beat on both revenue and adjusted EPS, driven by strong demand for its affordable MacBook Neo. Within tech, software is also rising and received a helping hand from Atlassian’s (TEAM) strong results. Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), and IBM (IBM) are all in the green.

Elsewhere, consumer defensive stocks are muted on the day, while Chevron (CVX), the lone energy stock in the Dow Jones, is trading lower alongside falling oil futures.

Is the Dow Jones a Good Long-Term Investment?

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) is an exchange-traded fund designed to track the movement of the Dow Jones. As a result, DIA is falling alongside the Dow Jones today.

Wall Street believes that DIA stock has room to rise. During the past three months, analysts have issued an average DIA price target of $553.69, implying upside of 11.50% from current prices. The 30 holdings in DIA carry 30 buy ratings, zero hold ratings, and zero sell ratings.