Stocks Limit Gains After Iran Denies It Held Talks With US

A cautious relief swept through financial markets Monday after President Trump said the United States has talked with Iran about a possible end to the war. Oil prices eased, and stock prices rose on Wall Street following severe losses taken elsewhere in the world before Trump's announcement.

• The S&P 500 rose 74.52 points, or 1.1%, to 6,581.00.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 631 points, or 1.4%, to 46,208.47.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 299.15 points, or 1.4%, to 21,946.76.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude fell 10.9% to settle at $99.94, down from nearly $120 at one point last week, after Trump said the United States and Iran held productive talks the last two days "regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East," the AP reports. The market's moves were tentative, though, after Iran denied such talks took place and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a post on X that fake news "is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets."

The Dow went from a surge of nearly 1,135 points during the morning to a much more modest gain. Over the weekend, Trump had threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if it doesn't open up the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Trump said Monday that he is postponing attacks on Iranian power plants for five days to allow talks to continue. Quickly afterward, though, came the denials from Iran about talks, while Iran's semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies portrayed the American president as backing down. Turkey and Egypt, meanwhile, said they had spoken to the warring parties, the first sign of coordinated mediation, which could be an encouraging signal.

• The price of Brent crude fell as low as $96 immediately after Trump announced the postponement but quickly recovered a chunk of that loss. Benchmark US crude had a similar reaction, immediately dropping toward $84 per barrel before yo-yoing back above $92 and then settling at $88.13, down 10.3% from Friday.

On Wall Street, companies with big fuel bills that will benefit from any easing of oil prices led the market. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings surged 6.2%, while United Airlines climbed 4.5%, and American Airlines rose 3.6%. All, though, are still down for the year so far. Stocks of smaller companies were also particularly strong, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 2.3%. It had dropped last week to 10% below its record, a sharp enough fall that professional investors have a name for it: a "correction."

In Europe, stock indexes immediately flipped from losses to gains following Trump's announcement. France's CAC 40 rose 0.8%, and Germany's DAX returned 1.2%. That compares with sharp drops for Asian stock markets, which finished trading before Trump made his announcement. South Korea's Kospi careened 6.5% lower, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 3.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 3.5%.