US says Strait of Hormuz remains open despite Iranian blockade announcement

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday said the Strait of Hormuz remains open to traffic and reported strikes on a vessel despite Iran's announcement of blockade of the vital waterway.

Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an Iranian authority overseeing shipping control in the Strait of Hormuz, ordered closure of the strait on Thursday, citing heightened tensions caused by U.S. military actions in the region.

The Iranian armed forces also warned on the same day that violators would be targeted.

CENTCOM reiterated on social platform X that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz, and confirmed it has established safe navigation corridors for commercial vessels transiting the strait, emphasizing that all ships not violating sanctions or blockade measures against Iran are free to use these routes.

This statement follows U.S. strikes on a vessel accused of transporting Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday night. A U.S. aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of the Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces, the command said in a post on X.

Earlier this week, U.S. aircraft disabled Palau-flagged vessels M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello. The command said Marivex violated the U.S. blockade by attempting to sail to an Iranian port and Settebello attempted to transport Iranian oil.

Despited Iran's announcement of closure of the strait, U.K.-based maritime intelligence firm Windward indicates continued maritime activity.

The firm reported on Thursday, citing satellite imagery and multi-source analysis, that a small number of vessels continued to transit the strait. On Thursday, three ships were observed navigating the deep-water channel of the Strait of Hormuz with their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) turned off. Two appeared to be heading northwest and one was heading north.

Meanwhile, publicly available AIS data showed that between Wednesday to Thursday, five vessels successfully completed transits through the strait, including four small coastal cargo ships under 80 meters in length exiting the Persian Gulf, and one general cargo ship entering the Persian Gulf.

US says Strait of Hormuz remains open despite Iranian blockade announcement

U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had called off planned strikes on Iran scheduled for the evening.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 929.97 points, or 1.86 percent, to 50,848.75. The S&P 500 added 127.31 points, or 1.75 percent, to 7,394.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 640.158 points, or 2.54 percent, to 25,809.66.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the green, with materials and industrials leading the gainers by rising 3.26 percent and 3.25 percent, respectively. Energy and consumer staples led the laggards by decreasing 2.06 percent and 0.47 percent, respectively.

Oil prices dropped after Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had "cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening."

The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery lost 2.32 U.S. dollars, or 2.58 percent, to settle at 87.71 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery decreased by 2.72 dollars, or 2.92 percent, to settle at 90.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Chipmakers led the advance, with notable gains in Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel, which helped offset earlier pressure on the technology sector.

On the economic front, wholesale inflation for May came in higher than expected, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The producer price index for final demand rose 1.1 percent from the previous month and 6.5 percent from a year earlier.

In corporate news, Oracle dropped 8.53 percent despite reporting quarterly earnings that beat analyst expectations, as investors reacted to disappointing cloud revenue growth and the company's plans for an equity and debt offering.

The market's primary focus this week remains Friday's highly anticipated public debut of Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is expected to be the largest initial public offering in history.

U.S. stocks rebound after Trump calls off strikes on Iran