Signs of hope for investors after Trump says progress made on Iran talks
The announcement by President Donald Trump on Monday morning, saying that the United States would hold off on strikes against Iranian energy infrastrcuture and power plants for five days, as well as extending the deadline for Iran to open the crucial straits of Hormuz, has been greeted with some relief on markets.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow were up as much as 2.6 per cent ahead of market open on Monday. Oil futures also fell, with Brent crude dropping over $9(USD) to $103.17 per barrel.
By mid-morning on Monday, the Down Jones was up around 2.4 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 2.16 per cent, the Nasdaq was up 2.4 per cent and the Russell 2,000 index, which had been among the hardest-hit US indices during this conflict, had gained 3.2 per cent.
The S&P/TSX Composite index was also up around two per cent on Monday morning.
US cyclicals were largely positive with banks, industrials, and tech stocks all moving higher. Airline stocks rose as well on the back of falling oil prices.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 had entered a correction earlier in the day on Monday, but reversed its morning losses on the back of Trump's announcement. Germany's Dax index was up 2.4 per cent.
The announcement came via a post on Trump's Truth Social platform, where the President claimed that Iran and the United States held “VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES”
Iran's foreign ministry has denied Trump's remarks, saying that no talks are taking place. CBS news reports that the ministry said: "The Islamic Republic of Iran adheres to its position rejecting any type of negotiations before achieving Iran's goals from the war.”
