Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq drop amid rising bond yields

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as President Trump held back on renewed military strikes inside Iran and NATO said it may consider missions to help vessels cross the Strait of Hormuz.

Futures on Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.3% to trade just below $111 per barrel, while those on US benchmark WTI crude gave up 0.9% to trade below $103.50.

Leading headlines on Tuesday was news that NATO is considering missions for oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf to cross through the Strait of Hormuz if the waterway isn’t reopened by early July, Bloomberg reported. It is unclear exactly what the operations would entail.

While the idea has support from several member countries, it has not yet reached the unanimous consent needed to put the plan in action, per Bloomberg.

“The political direction comes first, and then the formal planning happens after that,” Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Am I thinking about it? Absolutely.”

Such a move would come after the White House launched and only three days later canceled its “Project Freedom” operation after opposition from Iran. The operation was intended to provide military support to vessels looking to make the crossing, though it stopped short of full naval escorts.

The plan would also represent a marked shift for European countries that have so far not intervened in the war in Iran, saying they would get involved in maintaining safe passage through the strait only after the war ended.

The reporting on NATO’s thinking comes after Trump said Monday evening that he had called off airstrikes on Iran planned for Tuesday after requests from several Gulf nation leaders, who he said communicated that a peace agreement was close to being made.

“I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Something maybe early next week — a limited period of time.”