Oil drops, stocks soar after Trump postpones strikes on Iran

Oil prices plunged and US stock futures jumped after President Donald Trump said he would hold off on his threat of devastating attacks on Iran for two weeks if the Iranians agree to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Futures for US crude oil sank 18% to around $92.60 while Brent crude oil futures fell about 6% to $103.40.Both prices remain well above where they were at the start of the war. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 2.4%. Trump said Iran has proposed a “workable” 10-point peace plan that could help end war the US and Israel launched on Feb 28.
The Dow closed higher by 631 points, or 1.38%. The S&P 500 gained 1.15% and the Nasdaq rose 1.38%. The three stock indexes pared some gains after rising more than 2% earlier.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 10.92% to settle at $99.94 per barrel, its first settle below $100 per barrel since March 11. US crude oil sank 10.28% to settle at $88.13 per barrel, its lowest settle since March 11.Oil prices posted their biggest single-day drop since March 10, when Trump said the Iran war would be over “very soon.” The declines come after oil prices on Friday had settled at their highest level since July 2022.
Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 index rose 0.6%, closing slightly higher but paring gains after initially surging as much as 2.3% following Trump’s announcement. Germany’s DAX index closed higher by 1.2% after initially surging more than 3.5%. Gold prices were down more than 3% just after posting their worst week since 1983, continuing a recent slump after a meteoric rise in prior months. The US dollar index moved 0.5% lower, wavering after strong gains this month.