Stock market today: Dow S&P 500, Nasdaq climb as deescalation talk in Iran extends rally

Oil prices pulled back Wednesday morning after a bevy of headlines suggesting Iran and the US may both be looking for an end to the war that has now dragged on into its fifth week.

Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, shed roughly 2.2% to trade around $101.70 per barrel. Those on US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) turned down by a similar 2.1% to sit around $99.30 per barrel, pulling back below the key $100 level.

Kicking off the pullback in oil — and a matching surge in global equity markets — were comments from Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, first reported in regional media on Tuesday. On a call with the EU Council president, Pezeshkian said Iran has “the necessary will to end this war” but expects certain guarantees in exchange.

In Washington, President Trump said on Tuesday in comments to reporters that the US would end its involvement in the war in Iran “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three.”

That said, analysts caution that while oil has pulled back, the risk premium embedded in current prices has not yet abated. President Trump has said the US may withdraw without resolving the conflict over the Strait of Hormuz, leaving control of the world’s most critical energy chokepoint an open question.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, President Trump said any ceasefire negotiations are conditioned on a reopening of the strait.

“Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” the president wrote.

An end to conflict will also not immediately fix the longer-term effects of infrastructure damage, wellhead shut-ins, insurance premiums, and other components of the war.