Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq pause rally after Iran says ceasefire has been broken

Oil prices surged on Thursday morning as military action continued in the Middle East and movement through the Strait of Hormuz remained at a standstill, reversing some of the steep pricing drops in the hours after President Trump’s ceasefire announcement on Tuesday morning.

Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, gained more than 4% to trade above $98 per barrel, while those on US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) picked up more than 5% to trade above $99 per barrel.

The US-Iran agreement for a temporary ceasefire looked increasingly fragile as military action by Iran and Israel has continued throughout the region, and senior Iranian leaders claimed the US had violated its side of the truce.

In a post to X on Wednesday, Iranian parliamentary speaker and former IRGC general Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has emerged as a leading voice within the regime, said the US and Iran’s framework deal for negotiation “has been openly and clearly violated,” making a ceasefire or negotiations “unreasonable.”

The parliamentary speaker cited Israel’s continued campaign in Lebanon against the Iran-backed terrorist proxy force Hezbollah, drones intruding into Iranian airspace, and the US denial of Iran’s “right to [nuclear] enrichment,” which has been a consistent red line for the Trump administration.

The Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical shipping chokepoint for energy products, has remained essentially closed to through traffic. Only four vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, marking a decline from the average of nine per day over the previous five days, according to data from S&P Global Intelligence.

In comments to reporters Wednesday night, Vice President JD Vance said that if the US doesn’t see the Strait of Hormuz beginning to reopen, the White House is “not going to abide by our terms if the Iranians are not abiding by their terms.”