WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Negotiators aimed to put an end to the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, an official familiar with the talks disclosed on Wednesday, following 15 months of violence leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and escalating tensions in the Middle East.
The undisclosed agreement delineates an initial six-week ceasefire period and entails the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip along with the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel, as conveyed by the official to Reuters.
Below are reactions from investors and analysts regarding the agreement:
"It's clearly an unambiguous positive for the markets and certainly for global markets. I think it's going to take a bit longer for this to settle in to the news flow, especially in a market that was already up, but this is clearly something that will prove to be an unambiguous positive."
"The overarching positive of all of this will likely start settling in the weeks to come, and not necessarily this afternoon."
"Since geopolitical tensions are one of the bricks in this wall of worry that the market is climbing, it's good to have at least one source removed. The only question is whether this can be extended, since tensions always seem to flare up in the Middle East."
"Investors now have more than one reason to breathe a sigh of relief today and this news from Gaza. Stock market headwinds are less of a hurricane and more of a gentle breeze."
"This news was very much expected and had been hinted at quite strongly in recent sessions so shan't have come as a surprise to most participants."
"I suppose at the margin it reduces geopolitical risk to a degree, though the question now is how long the ceasefire holds for. The situation in the Middle East, as ever, is a precarious and volatile one, so I doubt anyone will be rushing to buy risk or unwind their safe haven hedges just yet - certainly not with Trump’s inauguration on Monday looming large on the horizon."
"Some of it had already been telegraphed in the market, so I don't think it was a complete surprise... If there is any significant impact, it will be an influence on the energy complex."