A cargo ship pictured off the coast of Fujairah in the Strait of Hormuz on February 25, 2026 (Giuseppe Cacace/Getty Images)

Oil plunges and stocks jump as Trump and Iranian foreign minister say Strait of Hormuz is open, though uncertainty remains

Citing Israel-Lebanon agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on social media that the strait is “completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.” President Trump confirmed the news shortly thereafter.

Matt Phillips

11h

Stocks rose (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) and crude oil prices remained deeply in the red Friday as both the US and Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open, though there was uncertainty about the extent of the reopening.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that while ships can now pass through the strait, transit needs to be coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Separately, President Trump declared on social media that the US blockade of Iran’s ports would remain in full force until “until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete.”

Meanwhile, a US Navy advisory suggested shippers consider avoiding the area, as the threat of mines “is not fully understood.” A maritime security company advised clients not to try to cross, telling them to wait for additional guidance, according to Dow Jones.

Speaking to Barrons, Matt Smith, director of commodities research at energy data firm Kpler, said it will take hours to know whether the reopening is in fact taking place.

The market’s gains began with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi’s post early Friday declaring the strait open for the duration of the ceasefire, as a result of the deal between Israel and Lebanon to halt hostilities.

In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 17, 2026

Shortly after Araghchi’s statement, President Trump posted on Truth Social that “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!”

As of midday, the S&P 500 (SPDR S&P 500 ETF), Nasdaq 100 (ProShares UltraPro QQQ), and Russell 2000 (iShares Russell 2000 ETF) all remained in solidly positive territory.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, tumbled on the announcement. Shortly before noon, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures were down by more than 10%.

Fuel-sensitive sectors of the stock market, like airlines and cruise companies, are up big. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines all jumped, as did cruise lines Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean.

Going the other way were chemical and energy shares, which had soared along with prices of goods whose supply was constrained by the closure of the choke point to the Persian Gulf.

Chemical stocks — Dow, Inc., CF Industries, and LyondellBasell among them — tumbled, as did natural gas drillers APA Corporation, EOG Resources, Devon Energy, and Coterra Energy.

While the announcement about the strait didn’t signal that hostilities with Iran have conclusively ended, a broad swath of investors and traders rushed to buy.

They included fundamentally minded investors who expected lower US gasoline prices in the future, as well as retail traders eager to ride the growing wave of good vibes that have washed over the market recently, carrying the S&P 500 to new record highs.

Goldman Sachs’ meme stock basket jumped more than 3% in early trading, with constituents like Hims & Hers, Strategy, and SoundHound AI rallying.

A separate Goldman basket of companies tied to spending by middle-income consumers was up even more, with large gains for companies like Boot Barn, Yeti, and restaurant chain Brinker International as the market seemed to price in a decline in gasoline prices, which act as a tax on consumers.

Tasha Matsumoto, Matt Phillips

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 close at record highs again as Strait of Hormuz is declared open

Stocks reached new record highs as risk-on sentiment flooded back into the markets, while oil tumbled.

Chicago Bulls players Dennis Rodman (L), Scottie Pippen (C) and Michael Jordan (R) hold three of the team's four recent Larry O'Brien trophies 18 June at a rally for the team in Grant Park in Chicago.

Matt Phillips9h

With their recent surge, Intel shares just hit their highest level since the dot-com era

Intel’s surge of nearly 60% this month has the iconic American chipmaker’s stock price approaching levels last seen during the dot-com era. Bloomberg noted that shares just touched their highest intraday level since the turn of the century:

“The stock rose as much as 1.5% to $69.55, topping a peak it hit on Jan. 24, 2020. The shares are up 90% this year, after soaring 84% in 2025. Intel is now roughly 8% from its all-time closing high of $74.88, established on Aug. 31, 2000.”

That’s just the most recent late-’90s-era throwback we’ve been seeing in tech shares lately. Oracle is currently pacing for its best week since late 1999.

What’s even more remarkable, however, is that Intel’s forward price-to-earnings ratio today dwarfs the premiums the market was putting on the stock during the nuttiness of the dot-com mania.

That reflects the fact that the recent run-up in Intel shares is, essentially, giving the chip giant credit for a massive turnaround that hasn’t actually happened yet.

One also might wonder if the fact that Intel is partially owned by the US government means it’s more attractive — and therefore worth a higher premium — than other chipmakers without the state imprimatur.

Still, kind of startling.

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Netflix sinks following disappointing outlook as investors wait for more ad growth

Netflix shares are down more than 10% on Friday morning.

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Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 pill hit nearly 1,400 prescriptions in first week

Eli Lilly rose after preliminary numbers cited by Wall Street analysts showed strong uptake of its new weight-loss pill.

The FDA approved Foundayo on April 1 and shipments began on April 9. In its first week, roughly 1,400 US prescriptions were written for the drug, according to IQVIA data cited by Deustche Bank analysts in a Friday note.

Novo Nordisk, Lilly’s rival in the GLP-1 market, released its GLP-1 pill earlier this year, and early signs show that it’s expanding the market, inviting patients who were turned off by weekly injections. Novo’s pill had a stronger first week than Lilly’s, with its Wegovy pill hitting 3,071 US prescriptions in the first four days after its launch on January 5.

Lilly’s pill has an advantage over Novo’s, which is that it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. Lilly disclosed in a February regulatory filing that it had $1.5 billion worth of prelaunch inventory ready ahead of the FDA approval — which is about as much as analysts polled by FactSet expect it to sell this year.

Eli Lilly makes the world’s bestselling drug. Can it keep the party going?

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Critical Metals jumps after Greenland’s government approves CRML to take majority control of the Tanbreez mining project

Critical Metals is up more than 25% in premarket trading on Friday after the critical mining company announced that it now owns 92.5% of the Tanbreez rare earth deposit following an approval from the government of Greenland.

With that latest government support, Critical Minerals added an additional 50.5% stake to its ownership, reportedly acquired from Rimbal Pty Ltd, per Bloomberg News. With access to eight heavy rare earth elements often used in consumer electronics and defense, the site is one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits and a key source of rare earth supply outside of China, according to the company.

In Critical Metals’ press release, Chairman Tony Sage commented that the approval “removes the most significant structural overhang on the project and provides the clarity to advance Tanbreez to production with confidence,” especially as Tanbreez’s location offers a significant logistical advantage through its year-round direct shipping access, compared to rival projects.

With 92.5% of the project now vested in Critical Metals Corp., and the remainder owned by European Lithium Ltd., CRML now has full control of the project and is seeking to accelerate development there, with plans for a new international airport and a “150-tonne bulk sample program,” which is slated for June 2026.