Dow Jones ends day on historic note as investors rush to buy after Trump’s Iran ceasefire deal

The stock market closed Wednesday on a historic run, the day after news of a ceasefire in the Iran war.

The Dow Jones ended the day up 1,326.23 points, the seventh-largest one-day gain in history.

On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. had reached a two-week ceasefire deal with Iran. Earlier Tuesday, he had threatened in a Truth Social post that the “whole civilization” of the nation would die in the war.

Wednesday’s market rebound follows positive signs in the oil market, where barrels have surged above $100 after the war began February 28. The price of a barrel of U.S. crude fell to $96 Wednesday.

“There is a reason to be optimistic, but it is still too early to tell, because, as you know, after all, it is Trump,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at MONEX.

Falling oil prices will be a welcome relief for consumers after the Iran conflict led to average gas prices rising above $4 for the first time in more than three years.

Despite Wednesday’s rebound, stock prices are still below where they were before the war. Oil prices are also still significantly higher, because the threat remains that the war could continue and keep oil produced in the Persian Gulf area blocked in the Middle East.

How oil prices will move in the next few weeks will likely depend on how many oil tankers can start exiting the Strait of Hormuz – which sees 20 percent of the world’s oil supply pass through it – and how easy their passage is.

Iran said the ceasefire would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the terms were not clear.

Opening the Strait will be pivotal for the global oil supply and U.S. gas prices. It could also benefit the president’s popularity with voters.

Trump’s approval rating fell to 33 percent at the end of March, according to a University of Massachusetts Amherst poll. Some 63 percent of Americans disapproved of how Trump was handling the Iran war.

With additional reporting from The Associated Press