Wall Street Sees $1.5 Trillion Rally Following Trump’s Iran Strike Pause

(SeaPRwire) –   A collective sigh of relief, held for five weeks, swept through the U.S. stock market this morning, adding approximately $1.5 trillion in value.

This surge concludes a hectic 24-hour period. On Sunday, former President Trump issued an ultimatum, giving Iran until 8 p.m. Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its infrastructure and, as he stated, its “whole civilization.” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif mediated talks between Washington and Tehran throughout the afternoon, eventually securing the framework for a ceasefire. Trump announced his agreement on Truth Social with less than two hours remaining before his own deadline.

Vice President JD Vance conceded this morning that the truce is highly fragile. Reports indicate that hostilities persist, especially from Israel, which is said to be continuing strikes in Lebanon aiming to eliminate Hezbollah permanently. The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported that Tehran is “weighing deterrent operations” in response to what it considers a breach of the ceasefire. Furthermore, according to Bloomberg, a drone hit Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, a critical alternative route for the Kingdom to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

For traders, however, these developments were secondary. At the market open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared by 1,303 points, or 2.8%, marking its strongest performance since the conflict started on February 28. The S&P 500 climbed 165 points and the Nasdaq 100 leaped 702 points, as all risk assets previously battered by the Strait’s closure reversed course. Conversely, energy stocks plunged, with losses approaching double digits. Shell declined 4%, Exxon Mobil slumped as much as 7.9% in its worst day since May 2022, and LyondellBasell and CF Industries experienced their most significant losses since March 2020.

In tandem with the energy sector, West Texas Intermediate crude fell nearly 16% to around $95 a barrel, though it remains substantially higher than its $67 pre-war level from February 27. Brent crude dropped 14% to $93.80.

Wall Street is already shifting its stance. JPMorgan’s trading desk adopted a “Tactically Bullish” position on Wednesday, advising clients that the ceasefire “should trigger a re-risking potentially similar to the post-Liberation Day pivot,” a reference to the market rebound from tariff-pause lows in April 2025. The situation presents parallels: approximately $8 trillion is sitting in money-market funds, and Wednesday’s sharp market opening rise demonstrated that liquidity was not the limiting factor; traders were simply awaiting what critics of Trump term a “TACO” or what his supporters call a “deal.”