Mumbai, April 2 -- Stocks rushed higher worldwide and oil prices eased Wednesday as hopes built that the war with Iran could end soon. Even though some of the signals investors saw as hopeful are already under dispute, and several earlier bouts of optimism in financial markets quickly got undercut by continued, fierce fighting in the war.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and added to its leap from the day before, which was its best since last spring. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 224 points or 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.2%.

Wall Street's optimism surged Tuesday on Iran's president's signals of willingness to end the war if conditions like aggression guarantees are met, easing fears of prolonged conflict blocking Persian Gul...