Stocks Just Had Their Best Day Since Last Spring

US stocks surged to their best day since last spring on Tuesday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,100 points as doubt shifted back to hope on Wall Street for a possible end to the war with Iran.

• The S&P 500 rose 184.80 points, or 2.9%, to 6,528.52 for its largest gain since May. Just a day before, worries about the war had sent the main measure of Wall Street's health more than 9% below its all-time high set early this year
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,125.37 points, or 2.5%, to 46,341.51.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 795.99 points, or 3.8%, to 21,590.63.

The rebound came as dropping oil prices took pressure off Wall Street, the AP reports. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 3.2% to settle at $103.97. Benchmark US crude erased a gain from the morning and eased 1.5% to settle at $101.38. Oil prices have been dictating the US stock market's sharp swings since the war began, with Brent shooting from roughly $70 per barrel to as high as $119 at times.

Analysts said optimism entered markets overnight following a report from the Wall Street Journal saying President Trump told aides he's willing to end the US military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. Oil prices then took a sudden and sharp turn lower in midday trading following a news report from the Middle East quoting Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian as saying the country has "the necessary will to end the war" as long as certain requirements are met, including "guarantees to prevent a recurrence of aggression."

• Oil prices could of course quickly revert to spiking if tankers carrying crude can't get through the strait easily. Iran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf in the latest fighting, which has shown few signs of lessening. And oil prices have already shot high enough that inflation in Europe accelerated to 2.5% in March, up from February's 1.9%.

In the United States, the price for a gallon of gasoline topped $4 per gallon for the first time since 2022. That's squeezing budgets for US households and preventing spending on other things. Worries about that and pressured profit margins for companies meant the S&P 500 closed Tuesday with its worst loss for a quarter since the summer of 2022. The 4.6% loss would have been even worse if not for Tuesday's easing for oil prices, which helped stocks of companies that have big fuel bills. United Airlines soared 8.1%, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holding steamed 5.9% higher to trim their losses for the year so far.

Tech stocks were the strongest forces lifting the market in a widespread rally where four out of every five stocks within the S&P 500 rose. Marvell Technology shot up 12.8% after Nvidia invested $2 billion in the company and announced a partnership with it. Nvidia rose 5.6% and was the single strongest force lifting the S&P 500. Centessa Pharmaceuticals soared 44% after Eli Lilly said it was buying the company working on treatments for excessive daytime sleepiness and other neurological conditions. Lilly, which is paying up to $7.8 billion if certain conditions are met, rose 3.7%. They helped offset a 6.1% drop for McCormick. The spice company is buying most of Unilever's food business, including such brands as Hellmann's, for cash and stock valuing it at $44.8 billion.