Stocks broadly rallied on Monday as President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. and Iran have entered peace talks, leading the U.S. to halt all strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure. Investors took this as the best news so far in the conflict, as it eased some concerns of a looming global recession sparked by impacts to crude oil supply.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
"I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST," Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday.
"BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS," the president continued.
Crude oil futures fell following Trump's announcement as investors grew more optimistic that oil supply would return to stabile conditions in the coming weeks. West Texas Intermediate closed down over 10% at $88.13 per barrel, while Brent crude futures lost almost 11% to settle at $99.94 a barrel.
Prior to Monday's market bounce, the Dow and Nasdaq were both headed toward correction territory -- falling 10% from their recent highs -- with each index more than 9% off their records on Friday. The broader market S&P 500 was also down by 7% before Monday.
Amid recent bouts of market volatility, BlackRock
"Over time, staying invested has mattered far more than getting the timing right," Fink wrote in his annual letter released Monday. "Some of the market's strongest days came amid the most unsettling headlines."
"The danger is that we focus so much on the noise that we forget what actually matters," Fink added. "The forces behind today's headlines have been building for a long time. The old model of global capitalism is fracturing. Countries are spending enormous sums to become self-reliant - in energy, in defense, in technology."
Looking ahead, investors will continue to monitor the latest developments out of the Middle East on Tuesday, alongside two economic readings on services and manufacturing inflation.
