Rebound By Crude Oil Prices May Lead To Pullback On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to move back to the downside following the strong upward move seen in the previous session.

The downward momentum on Wall Street comes amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, as international benchmark Brent crude futures have jumped back above $100 a barrel.

Brent crude futures plunged by nearly 11 percent during Monday’s trading after President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. and Iran held productive talks to end the conflict in the Middle East.

Oil is rebounding as Israel and Iran have continued to exchange strikes, with huge explosions heard in Tehran and other cities, as Iran denied it held talks with the U.S. to end the war.

“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote in response to Trump’s comments.

He claimed Trump’s latest rhetoric “is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.”

Iran’s foreign ministry said Trump’s remarks were “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time” for military plans.

As the conflict entered its 25th day with no immediate signs of de-escalation, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are edging toward joining the fight against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday but continued to turn in a strong performance. The major averages all rebounded after ending last Friday’s trading at their lowest levels in several months.

The major averages ended the day well off their highs of the session but still posted notable gains. The Dow surged 631.00 points or 1.4 percent to 46,208.47, the Nasdaq jumped 299.15 points or 1.4 percent to 21,946.76 and the S&P 500 shot up 74.52 points or 1.2 percent to 6,581.00.

The early rally on Wall Street came reaction to President Donald Trump backing down from his threats to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless they fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. and Iran have had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”

Trump said he has subsequently instructed the War Department to postpone all military strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period.

The president later told CNBC’s Joe Kernen that the U.S. is “very intent on making a deal with Iran” after previously claiming he wasn’t interested in a deal.

Trump had threated to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if they didn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

Iran warned it would strike energy and water infrastructure across the Gulf in retaliation if Trump followed through with his threat.

However, buying interest waned somewhat as the day progressed, as Iran’s state-run media said the country’s foreign ministry has denied negotiating with the U.S.

Trump told reporters the U.S. is speaking with a “top person” in Iran who he believes is the “most respected” but acknowledged it is not the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.2 percent after ending last Friday’s trading at its lowest closing level in four months.

Substantial strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came despite a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.

Networking stocks also showed a significant move back to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 3 percent.

Steel, housing, oil service and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength amid broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are surging $3.52 to $91.65 a barrel after plunging $10.10 to $88.13 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after plunging $167.60 to $4,407.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $9.70 to $4,397.60 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 158.82 yen compared to the 158.43 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1583 compared to yesterday’s $1.1612.

Asia

Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed strikes against Iran’s power plants for five days, citing what he said were “productive conversations” with Tehran to end the war.

Iran responded by saying that there had been no direct talks and that Trump’s move was designed to lower energy prices and “buy time” for his military plans.

Brent crude futures were up more than 2 percent above $98 a barrel in Asian trading after plunging over 10 percent in the New York trading session overnight following Trump’s decision to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.

As the conflict entered its 25th day with no immediate signs of de-escalation, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are edging toward joining the fight against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The dollar index held gains, while gold edged up slightly to hover above $4,400 an ounce, after nearing $4,300 an ounce earlier on inflation and rate-hike jitters.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.8 percent to 3,881.28 on hopes for de-escalation in the Middle East conflict. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rallied 2.8 percent to 25,063.71, with tech stocks and financials leading the surge.

Japanese markets rebounded after two consecutive sessions of heavy losses. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.4 percent to 52,252.28 as the yen held steady and data showed Japan’s key inflation gauge slowed more than expected to its weakest pace in nearly four years.

The broader Topix Index settled 2.1 percent higher at 3,559.67. As the yen neared 160 per dollar, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said that the government was ready to act “on all fronts” to address speculative volatility in the currency.

Seoul stocks surged as a sharp fall in oil prices prompted traders to back off some of their more hawkish Federal Reserve bets. The Kospi Index surged 2.7 percent to 5,553.92 after having plunged more than 6 percent the previous day.

Chip giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.8 percent, its rival SK Hynix soared 5.7 percent and battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 10.3 percent.

Australian markets pared early gains to end modestly higher after a survey signaled near-stagnant manufacturing output in March.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index edged up by 0.2 percent to 8,379.40, snapping a three-session losing streak and rebounding from a 10-month low hit in the previous session. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed up 0.2 percent at 8,571.30.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index slumped 1.5 percent to 12,701.75 as the U.S.-Iran conflict dragged on.

Europe

European stocks have struggled for direction on Tuesday as uncertainty lingered despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone potential strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days.

Huge explosions were heard in Tehran and other cities, as Iran denied it held talks with the U.S. to end the war.

“Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote in response to Trump’s comments, adding that Trump’s latest rhetoric “is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.”

Iran’s foreign ministry said Trump’s remarks were “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time” for military plans.

In economic news, a survey showed Eurozone private sector growth slowed sharply in March. The S&P Global flash euro zone Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 50.5 from 51.9 in February, marking a 10-month low.

While the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.

French AI-software company Sidetrade SA added 2.4 percent after Mission Trail Capital Management LLC acquired 80,659 shares of the company, representing 5.39 percent of its outstanding share capital.

German automakers BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen were modestly higher after industry data showed Europe’s new car registrations recovered in February, driven by higher demand for battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

British game developer and publisher Everplay Group slumped 13.5 percent after reporting flat sales for the full year ended December 31, 2025.

Trustpilot shares plummeted 11 percent. The Italian competition authority has fined the online review platform €4 million for misleading consumers.

Homebuilder Bellway lost 8 percent after trimming its operating margin outlook for fiscal ?2026.

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher gained 1 percent on reporting a rise in its annual profit.

Shares of Spanish beauty brand Puig soared 13 percent after peer Estee Lauder confirmed it is in talks about merging the two companies to create a cosmetics giant with about $20 billion in annual sales.

U.S. Economic News

Revised data released by the Labor Department on Tuesday showed labor productivity in the U.S. increased by much less than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The Labor Department said labor productivity shot up by 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previously reported 2.8 percent surge. Economists had expected the jump in labor productivity to be downwardly revised to 2.4 percent.

The much smaller than previously estimated increase in labor productivity compares to the 5.2 percent spike in the third quarter.

The report also showed a significant upward revision to the surge in unit labor costs in the fourth quarter, which soared by 4.4 percent compared to the previously reported 2.8 percent jump. The spike in unit labor costs was expected to be upwardly revised to 3.0 percent.

The Labor Department also said the 1.8 percent slump in unit labor costs that had been reported for the third quarter was revised to a 1.0 percent increase.

At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $69 billion worth of two-year notes.

Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr is due to speak on the economic outlook and community development at the National Community Investment Conference at 6:30 pm ET.