Calm returns to Wall Street and the oil market following Monday’s extreme swings
BNN Bloomberg
The U.S. stock market and oil prices are holding relatively steady Tuesday, for now, following their stunning swings up and down since the war with Iran began.
The S&P 500 edged down 0.1 per cent in early trading, a day after careening from a sharp early loss to a solid gain by the end of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 34 points, or 0.1 per cent, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1 per cent higher.
Calm was also holding in the oil market, which has been the center of action for financial markets because of worries about the potential for long-term disruptions to the energy industry in the Middle East.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was sitting at US$91.81. That’s down 7.2 per cent from its settlement price the day before, but much of that decline happened before the end of Wall Street’s trading day on Monday. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude was also sitting close to where it was during the last moments of Monday’s trading for the U.S. stock market, and it was at $88.57.
Oil prices plunged Monday from a high of nearly $120 per barrel, its most expensive level since 2022, after U.S. President Donald Trump told CBS News he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much.” That raised hopes that the war may end sooner than later, which could allow oil to flow freely again from the Middle East to customers around the world.
But Trump’s comments later Monday, after the U.S. stock market finished trading, were not as clear about when the war may end. And a spokesperson for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said that “Iran will determine when the war ends.” Iran launched new attacks Tuesday at Israel and Gulf Arab countries, keeping pressure on the Middle East in a war started by Israel and the United States.
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