Oil prices plunge toward $90 a barrel

New york

Stock markets are surging worldwide and oil prices are plunging back toward $90 per barrel after US President Donald Trump pulled back from his threat to force a “whole civilisation” to die in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 leaped 2.7% after Trump, Iran and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, just hours before a deadline Trump had set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil to flow freely again from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,350 points and the Nasdaq composite surged 3.4% following even bigger gains in European and Asian markets.

To be sure, stock prices are still below where they were before the war. And oil prices are still higher because the threat remains that the war could continue and keep oil produced in the Persian Gulf area blocked in the Middle East.