US STOCKS-Wall Street ends higher on speculation about end to Iran war

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

April 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, with strong gains in Alphabet and other heavyweights, after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested an end to the Middle East conflict could be close.

The U.S. will be "out of Iran pretty quickly" and could return for "spot hits" if needed, Trump told Reuters, hours before he was scheduled to address the nation about the war.

"We have Trump's comments, which tend to change a bit," said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. "Everybody's trying to guess as to what he really means by what he's saying. The markets want it to be positive, they want the war to be over."

Technology-related heavyweights rallied, with Alphabet GOOGL.O, Meta Platforms META.O and Amazon AMZN.O all higher.

Wall Street has rallied for two straight days as investors speculated that the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran will end soon. Energy prices have spiked in the latest month, sparking fears of global inflation, as the conflict choked the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Even after recent gains, the S&P 500 is trading at under 20 times expected earnings, its lowest earnings multiple in 10 months, according to LSEG data.

The PHLX chip index .SOX jumped for a second session.

SpaceX confidentially filed for an initial public offering, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, sending space stocks higher.

Eli Lilly LLY.N rose after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drugmaker's weight loss pill, to be sold under the brand name Foundayo.

Intel INTC.O surged after it said it would buy back Apollo's stake in its Ireland factory for $14.2 billion.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 46.92 points, or 0.72%, to end at 6,575.44 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 251.97 points, or 1.17%, to 21,842.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 226.66 points, or 0.49%, to 46,568.17.

The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, slipped to its lowest in more than a week.

Oil prices fell sharply, and the S&P 500 energy index .SPNY slid almost 5% at its session low, its lowest in over a week. Airline stocks rose. .SPCOMAIR

Nike NKE.N slumped to its lowest in a decade after the sportswear giant forecast a surprise drop in its fourth-quarter sales.

ADP's national employment report showed private payrolls increased steadily in March, while retail sales increased by the most in seven months in February. U.S. manufacturing activity picked up last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management's gauge.

Nonfarm payroll figures for March will be in focus on Friday, although U.S. markets will be closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Due to increased fears of inflation, traders now believe it is more likely the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by year-end than cut rates.