03:52 PM EDT, 04/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded lower ahead of Thursday's close, albeit off session lows, amid reports of diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1% to 21,817.5, after slumping 2% earlier in the session. The S&P 500 was also down 0.1% to 6,569.7, recovering most of its declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3% to 46,450.5, but was off session lows.

The UN Security Council will likely vote Friday on a resolution that would support a range of measures to reopen the Straits of Hormuz, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said at a Security Council meeting Thursday, according to Bloomberg.

"We look forward to a unified position from this esteemed council during the vote that will take place on the draft resolution tomorrow, God willing," he told council members in Arabic.

Meanwhile, Iran and Oman are drafting a joint protocol to monitor transit and help ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz once the Middle East conflict ends. Tanker traffic through the Hormuz should be supervised and coordinated by Iran and Oman, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy minister for legal and international affairs, reportedly said.

Earlier on Thursday, representatives from more than 35 countries and international organizations discussed the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported.

Espen Barth Eide, the foreign minister of Norway, said there was broad agreement on "that a new precedent must not be established for coastal states to be able to restrict or charge fees for allowing ships to sail through international straits," according to the news report.

The three equity gauges opened sharply lower on Thursday after President Donald Trump overnight vowed to hit Iran "extremely hard" before ending the war "very shortly." Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Trump called on countries that use the critical waterway for trade and energy supplies to "take care of that passage."

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were still up 11.4% to $111.54, and Brent crude futures climbed 7.4% to $108.70, maintaining gains from earlier in the session.