Oil plunged and global stocks rebounded from a four-month low on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would postpone military strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure and said the U.S. was in talks with Tehran to end the war — a claim Iran quickly denied. Trump wrote early in the U.S. morning on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. and Iran had held "very good and productive" conversations about a "complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East". The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here. Advertisement · Scroll to continue
As a result, he said, he was postponing a plan to hit Iran's energy grid for five days. Oil prices tumbled by more than 13%, the dollar fell against other major currencies and government borrowing costs eased. "You never know who to believe but it does appear that Trump is trying to start discussions with somebody in Iran to resolve the war despite strong denials from Iran," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. "This has caused significant optimism in stock prices today with the market up strongly although off its highest levels because of the Iranian denials." Advertisement · Scroll to continue
IRANIAN MEDIA CONTRADICT TRUMP'S COMMENTS U.S. crude was last down 9.61% to $88.84 a barrel and Brent fell to $99.90 per barrel, down 10.94% on the day. The Russell 2000 small-cap index (.RUT), opens new tab gained 2.5%. Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 16, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 631.00 points, or 1.38%, to 46,208.47, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab rose 74.51 points, or 1.15%, to 6,580.99 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab rose 299.15 points, or 1.38%, to 21,946.76. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab rose 4.93 points, or 0.50%, to 986.24. It earlier reached 970.45, the lowest since November 21.
