US STOCKS-US stock futures jump 2% after Trump postpones strikes on Iranian power plants

Reuters03-23
US STOCKS-US stock futures jump 2% after Trump postpones strikes on Iranian power plants

Futures up: Dow 2.48%, S&P 500 2.36%, Nasdaq 2.4%

Russell 2000 futures gain 3.9%

CBOE Volatility Index falls after hitting two-week high earlier

Updates prices, comment

By Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit

Mar 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street futures jumped more than 2% on Monday, reversing losses after Donald Trump said he would order the military to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure following "productive conversations" with Tehran.

Global markets staged a sharp recovery after the U.S. president's comments, with Europe's STOXX 600 .STOXX and precious metals turning positive, while oil prices fell, marking a significant improvement in risk appetite.

Markets had been trading lower after Iran's statement that it would attack Israel's power plants and plants supplying U.S. bases in the Gulf if Trump carried out his threat to "obliterate" Iran's power network, the country's Revolutionary Guards said.

"This is obviously a postponement, not a complete ceasefire, and we will see what happens from here. What's done is still not undone, so the impact has yet to be seen, but obviously, markets are breathing a sigh of relief," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Markets.

At 07:17 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 1,140 points, or 2.48%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 rose 154.75 points, or 2.36%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 added 578.75 points, or 2.4%.

The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX - Wall Street's fear gauge - fell after hitting its highest level in two weeks earlier - and was last down 3.99 points at 22.79.

Wall Street's main indexes logged their fourth week of declines on Friday, with the Nasdaq posting its biggest weekly drop since early February.

Futures tracking the Russell 2000 index .RTYc1 rose 4.7%, after being down more than 1% earlier. The small-cap index .RUT, sensitive to higher interest rates, ended more than 10% below its record close of January 22 on Friday, confirming it had been in correction territory.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal, Twesha Dikshit and Johann Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Pooja Desai)

((Purvi.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com;))

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap
Leave a comment