Oil drops, yields fall, and stocks rise on reports the US has sent Iran a plan to end war
Oil, stock, and bond markets flipped their positions yesterday and continued into premarket trading Wednesday, as investors digest the latest reports on a potential wind-down of the war in Iran, with The New York Times reporting that the US has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the conflict.
While the details of the proposal remain unclear, it reportedly includes US demands from prior nuclear talks in Geneva and has been shared with Israel — though Israeli officials remain skeptical that Iran will agree to all conditions, according to Axios.
At the time of writing, international benchmark Brent crude futures are down around 4% to ~$100 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures have also sunk roughly to $88 a barrel. Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasurys continued their overnight declines and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF extended its after-hours rally into premarket trading.
Global markets have breathed a sigh of relief, with the broader STOXX Europe 600 up 1.3% and all sectors (besides oil and gas stocks) in the green. Asia-Pacific markets closed higher Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI gaining 2.9% and 1.6%, respectively. S&P 500 futures rose 0.84% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1%.
Spot gold and silver both jumped roughly 1.8% as the decline in oil prices eased inflation fears.
From the Times’ report yesterday:
“The United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East, according to two officials briefed on the diplomacy, reflecting the Trump administration’s eagerness to find an offramp from the conflict as it grapples with its economic fallout.
It was unclear how widely the plan, delivered by way of Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials and whether Iran was likely to accept it as a basis for negotiations. Nor was it clear whether Israel, which has been bombing Iran together with the United States, was on board with the proposal.
But the delivery of the plan showed that the administration was ramping up efforts to conclude a war, now in its fourth week, that has drawn in several other countries.”
Some individual shares had outsized reactions to the news. Gold miners Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont, which have been battered since the war started, are still rising this morning. Ammonia maker CF Industries — which had risen on expectations of rising prices for fertilizer products linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — is going the other way.
US natural gas producers such as APA Corporation, EOG Resources, Devon Energy, and Diamondback Energy declined after-hours on the news.
While the details of the proposal remain unclear, it reportedly includes US demands from prior nuclear talks in Geneva and has been shared with Israel — though Israeli officials remain skeptical that Iran will agree to all conditions, according to Axios.
At the time of writing, international benchmark Brent crude futures are down around 4% to ~$100 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures have also sunk roughly to $88 a barrel. Yields on two-year and 10-year Treasurys continued their overnight declines and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF extended its after-hours rally into premarket trading.
Global markets have breathed a sigh of relief, with the broader STOXX Europe 600 up 1.3% and all sectors (besides oil and gas stocks) in the green. Asia-Pacific markets closed higher Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI gaining 2.9% and 1.6%, respectively. S&P 500 futures rose 0.84% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1%.
Spot gold and silver both jumped roughly 1.8% as the decline in oil prices eased inflation fears.
From the Times’ report yesterday:
“The United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East, according to two officials briefed on the diplomacy, reflecting the Trump administration’s eagerness to find an offramp from the conflict as it grapples with its economic fallout.
It was unclear how widely the plan, delivered by way of Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials and whether Iran was likely to accept it as a basis for negotiations. Nor was it clear whether Israel, which has been bombing Iran together with the United States, was on board with the proposal.
But the delivery of the plan showed that the administration was ramping up efforts to conclude a war, now in its fourth week, that has drawn in several other countries.”
Some individual shares had outsized reactions to the news. Gold miners Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont, which have been battered since the war started, are still rising this morning. Ammonia maker CF Industries — which had risen on expectations of rising prices for fertilizer products linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — is going the other way.
US natural gas producers such as APA Corporation, EOG Resources, Devon Energy, and Diamondback Energy declined after-hours on the news.
