Stocks jump and oil drops after Trump said US and Iran held 'productive' talks
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images
- President Donald Trump said Monday that the US and Iran had held "productive" talks.
- US oil prices fell to below $90 a barrel, Brent dropped to $100, and stocks jumped.
- Strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure were postponed, Trump said.
Stocks jumped and oil prices fell after President Donald Trump said early Monday that the US and Iran had held "productive" conversations around a resolution to the conflict.
US West Texas Intermediate oil dropped 8% to about $90 a barrel on the news, down from over $100 earlier on Monday, while Brent Crude fell 8% to around $102.
Stocks jumped on the news as traders cheered the decline in crude prices and the first signs since the war began that an off-ramp could be emerging.
Here's where major indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. ET opening bell:
S&P 500: 6,602.60, up 1.48%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 46,386.97, up 1.78% (+809.50 points)
Nasdaq Composite: 22,005.848, up 1.66%
Bond yields dipped. The 10-year US Treasury was down two basis points to 4.37%. Yields have spiked amid the three weeks of war as investors see higher inflation, and thus higher interest rates, as a result of the conflict.
Sentiment was brightening for the first time since the war after Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the US and Iran had held "productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
Trump added that he had instructed the Department of Defense to postpone any strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, "subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
Oil prices rose again after their initial drop, with Brent Crude back up to about $105 early Monday. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said the rebound showed that markets still "remained sceptical" with lingering questions around the Strait of Hormuz and whether airstrikes on other targets will continue.
Tehran has not confirmed that talks with Trump have taken place. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, an Iranian state-controlled media outlet, said: "Trump, fearing Iran's response, backed down from his 48-hour ultimatum."
On speculation that no talks between Trump and Iran had actually taken place, Marko Kolanovic, JPMorgan's former quant chief, said Trump's post is "net negative for markets."
"Manipulation will cause liquidity to disappear and real problems will stay," he wrote on X.
Trump's announcement on Monday came just two days after he said the US would attack Iran's power plants if it didn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
Iran had responded on Sunday, threatening to strike infrastructure belonging to the US and Israel across the Middle East.