Oil prices drop and stock markets rise after reports of deal to end Iran war

(BBC News) Oil prices have dropped and global stock markets have risen following reports that the US and Iran are close to a deal to end the war.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark oil price, fell to $97 (£73) a barrel after the reports before rebounding to over $101. The price was over $108 earlier in the day.

The FTSE 100 index of London’s largest public firms and Germany’s Dax index closed over 2% up while the French Cac 40 was up 3%. Asian indexes also ended the day higher while the US S&P 500 was up by more than 1% over the day.

The market movements come after Axios reported that the US believes it is close to a one-page document which will end the war and set up detailed nuclear talks.

Hours later, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson told Iranian Students’ News Agency that the US proposal to end the war with Iran was still being considered.

However, not long after that, Trump suggested a deal could still be a way off.

He said on Truth Social that any agreement by the Iranians is “a big assumption” and that a failure to come to a deal will result in bombardments “at a much higher level and intensity” than was the case during Operation Epic Fury.

Oil prices are still much higher than the $70 a barrel they were hovering around before the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, which has caused production and transportation of oil in the region to slump.

Central to the conflict is Iran’s threat to attack oil ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway south of the country, in response to US-Israeli strikes since February 28.

About a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually cross the strait, which has been effectively closed for weeks. Global gas prices have also soared since the conflict began.

As for stock markets, the big European bourses are lower than they were at the end of February, while the S&P 500 climbed by more than 1%.

The main Asian markets all rose on Wednesday, with the South Korean Kospi closing up 6.45%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng ending the day up 1.22%, and the Japanese Nikkei finishing 0.38% higher.

The Hang Seng is down since the start of war, but the other two are up.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8zejyyr3o