US stocks surge after Trump says Iran talks ‘very good’

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks mostly rose early Monday after US President Donald Trump said Washington and Tehran had held “very good” talks on the war in the Middle East – despite Iran denying negotiations took place.

Oil prices – which have spiked since February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran – were sharply down on Monday.

Brent crude was trading down 9.8 percent, and its US-equivalent West Texas Intermediate had dropped 8.7 percent by around 1315 GMT.

US stocks meanwhile surged, with the broad-based S&P 500 up 1.4 percent to 6,596.00 about five minutes into trading.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.6 percent to 21,982.16, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4 percent to 46,232.45.

READ MORE: Wall Street Week Ahead: Persistent Iran war, energy price surge set to sway wavering stocks

Iranian media cited the country’s foreign ministry as saying no talks with Washington had taken place.

Steve Sosnick, from Interactive Brokers, said details were “irrelevant for markets, they got their positive piece of news,” when asked about the rise at the US open.

“To some extent, it is the markets hearing what it really wanted to hear which was some sign that these hostilities were going to be taking a break.”

The war has seen traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz – through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passes – come to a virtual standstill.

“Whether or not this rally persists, it is really up to what develops going forward, if ships start transiting through the strait,” said Sosnick.