Stocks Rise and Oil Prices Fall as Israel-Iran Cease-Fire Begins

Stocks Rise and Oil Prices Fall as Israel-Iran Cease-Fire Begins

A second day of declining oil prices helped lift stocks. Energy costs are a primary expense for companies, making them an important factor in inflation calculations.

Stock markets continued to rise on Tuesday as the cease-fire between Israel and Iran began to take hold and bolstered investor confidence that the worst of the conflict between the two Middle Eastern nations had passed.

The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, adding to a 1 percent gain on Monday.

The index now sits less than 1 percent away from its February record high, having staged a sharp recovery from April’s tariff-induced sell-off. The Trump administration has walked back many of its original trade proposals, spurring that recovery.

A second day of declining oil prices helped lift stocks. Energy costs are a primary expense for companies, making them an important factor in inflation calculations. Investors hope that reduced oil prices will help keep inflation trending lower.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell just over 6 percent on Tuesday after dropping more than 7 percent a day earlier, its biggest one-day decline in almost three years. West Texas Intermediate crude, the oil benchmark in the United States, also fell more than 6 percent, to $64.37 per barrel, on Tuesday.

Investors’ concerns about inflation appeared to ease alongside the drop in oil prices, which contributed to a dip in government bond yields. Analysts also pointed to congressional testimony from Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, which appeared to buoy investors’ hopes that interest rates could be lowered sooner than expected. The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 4.30 percent for the first time in over a month.

Elsewhere, markets also rallied. European and Asian stock indexes rose on Tuesday, after being more mixed on Monday.

Read this on New York Times Business
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