Hopes that the war with Iran will end again weighed on Wall Street on Wednesday, and stocks returned to a rally while oil prices eased.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent in its latest reaction – a flop after the United States delivered a ceasefire plan to Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 529 points, or 1.1 percent, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was up 1.3 percent.
Canada’s main stock index, the Toronto Stock Exchange, was up about 1.5 percent at press time.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude fell 5.4 percent to US$94.78 on hopes that a lull in fighting would allow oil and natural gas to flow freely from the Persian Gulf to customers around the world. Many oil tankers are currently stuck outside the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran, and the blockade has sent Brent crude to around $120 per barrel at times.
But market movements are still subdued, and have shifted rapidly since the war began more than three weeks ago with strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran. Most of the sudden reversals in momentum have hit the hourly mark as uncertainty continues to reign over how long the war will last.
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To keep that uncertain: Iran has not confirmed its acceptance of the US proposal for a ceasefire, and has publicly rejected the diplomatic effort while launching further attacks on Israel and the Gulf Arab states. Iran also continued to attack, and the US military sent paratroopers and more Marines to the region.
However, optimism was visible in financial markets around the world. Stock indexes rose more than one percent from London to Paris to Shanghai. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.9 percent.
In the bond market, Treasury yields also declined. That would help ease the rise in mortgage rates and other types of borrowing since the start of the war and also ease some of the pressure on the economy.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.33 percent from 4.39 percent late Tuesday, though it remains above 3.97 percent since just before the war.
Even gold, which had been one of the world’s biggest losers due to the war, rose. It rose 3.5 percent to $4,558.10 an ounce.
Its price briefly touched $5,400 earlier this month. That was before Treasury yields rushed higher on concerns that higher oil prices would raise inflation and prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates. When bonds pay such high interest rates, they make gold, which pays its investors nothing, less attractive by comparison.
On Wall Street, large oil companies rallied due to lower oil prices.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holding rose 4.2 percent, while United Airlines gained 4 percent.
Robinhood Markets jumped 7.1 percent to help lead the market after its board approved a plan to send up to $1.5 billion to shareholders by buying back the company’s stock.
– On file from Ariel Rabinovitch of Global
© 2026 The Canadian Press
