Stocks Hit New Record On Hopes War In Iran Will Be Over

Stocks reached a new record on Friday, extending gains on hopes the war in Iran will be over and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Concretely, the S&P 500 climbed by 1.2%, reaching an all-time high and closing a third straight week of gains, the longest since October. The Dow Jones soared by 868 points and the Nasdaq Composite climbed by 1.5%.

The stock market has climbed by more than 12% since hitting a bottom in March as the war raged, The Associated Press noted.

Oil prices also plummeted after President Donald Trump suggested the war will end soon and Tehran said the Strait of Hormuz will be fully reopened for the duration of the ceasefire.

Price for U.S. oil dropped by 9.4% and closed the session a little above $82.50 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell by 9.1% to $90.38 per barrel. However, prices remain significantly above the $70 from before the war began on February 28.

Further news can likely be expected during the weekend. In several interviews, Trump suggested parties would meet for a new round of negotiations to finalize a deal. He also told Axios he expects a deal to be announced “in a day or two.”

The president also told CBS News that Iran has “agreed to everything,” including giving up its enriched uranium stockpile.

“We’ll go down and get it with them, and then we’ll take it. We’ll be getting it together because by that time, we’ll have an agreement and there’s no need for fighting when there’s an agreement. Nice right? That’s better. We would have done it the other way if we had to,” Trump said when describing how the uranium would be retrieved. He went on to claim the stockpile will be taken to the U.S.

He also told Bloomberg that Tehran has has agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely and won’t receive frozen funds from the U.S.

Talk about the unfreezing of funds were reported by Axios, which claimed that parties were negotiating the release of $20 billion in exchange for Tehran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium.

The outlet detailed that Iran has about 2,000 kilograms of enriched uranium buried in underground facilities bombed by the U.S. last year, including 450 kilograms enriched to 60%, close to weapons grade.

Iran has not confirmed Trump’s remarks, but Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open for the remaining period” of the ceasefire with the U.S. following the one announced between Lebanon and Israel.