The United States and Iran remain at an impasse, nearly seven months after the war began
London (AFP) - Stock markets fell on Wednesday and oil prices rose as investors weighed the chances of a deal to end the Mideast war, after US President Donald Trump said US and Iranian representatives held “very good” talks at the United Nations.
Trump added that a three-hour meeting Tuesday was “very productive” and that two countries “have another one scheduled in the very near future”.
Hopes for a deal to get Gulf oil and gas flowing freely through the Strait of Hormuz as global leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly in New York had sent oil prices down sharply since last week.
But in the absence of further developments, Brent North crude, the international benchmark, climbed almost 2 percent back above $100 per barrel on Wednesday.
Stocks opened lower on Wall Street after the Nasdaq hit an all-time high on Tuesday on enthusiasm for all things AI, while most European and Asian indices also pulled back.
Stephen Innes at Quintex Intel noted that the UN meeting matters “because it shifts the market from pure (war) escalation pricing toward a genuine diplomatic process, even i...