NEW YORK — Oil prices plunged and U.S. stock futures jumped after President Donald Trump held off on his threat of devastating attacks on Iran. U.S. crude oil futures fell more than 15%.
Futures for the S&P 500 were up 2.2% as of 8:05 p.m. ET, while Dow futures rose 930 points or 2%.
Late Tuesday, Trump said he was holding off on his threatened attacks on Iranian bridges, power plants and other civilian targets, subject to Tehran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted a two-week ceasefire and its foreign minister said passage through the strait would be allowed for the next two weeks under Iranian military management.
Futures for U.S. crude oil sank 14.5% to $96.55 a barrel. The price remains well above where it was at the start of the war.
Earlier, U.S. stocks swung sharply during regular trading as uncertainty about the war with Iran increased after Trump had threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran does not meet his deadline at 8 p.m. Eastern time to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2% but stocks rallied at the end of trading after Pakistan’s prime minister urged Trump to extend his deadline for another two weeks and asked Iran to open up the strait for the same amount of time.
The S&P 500 erased all its losses and ended with a modest gain of 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 85 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1%.
They’re the latest swings to hit financial markets since late February because of deep uncertainty about when the fighting may end.
