[New York Stock Market] 'Is This Really the End?'... All Indexes Close Higher on Trump's Remarks

All Three Major Indexes Close Up Over 1%
International Oil Prices Plummet; Brent Falls Below $100
Large-Cap Stocks Rally Across the Board

New York Stock Exchange. Photo by Yoonjoo Hwang

On March 23 (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that negotiations were underway with Iran, which led all three major U.S. stock indexes to close higher.

On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 46,208.47, up 631.00 points (1.38%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 Index, centered on large-cap stocks, rose by 74.52 points (1.15%) to close at 6,581.00, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index surged 299.149 points (1.38%) to end the session at 21,946.76.

New York stocks finished higher as expectations for an end to the conflict were reflected in response to President Trump's remarks. President Trump announced that negotiations with Iran were underway and declared that attacks on Iranian energy facilities would be suspended for five days.

Before departing from Palm Beach International Airport in Florida for Memphis, Tennessee, he told reporters, "We had very in-depth discussions," and claimed, "We reached agreements on major issues, and we agreed on almost all issues."

Following this news, the market reacted enthusiastically, with all three major indexes at one point rising more than 2% during the session.

International oil prices plunged. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price for May delivery closed at $88.13 per barrel, down 10.28% from the previous session. Brent crude fell 10.92% to $99.94 per barrel. This is the first time in eight trading days since March 11 that Brent crude closed below $100.

Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, told CNBC, "Today's market movement is more of a reaction to where the administration wants to go," adding, "Given the various complex circumstances, the chances of measures being taken this week to return things to normal are extremely low."

Aviation stocks soared on expectations for an end to the conflict. Delta Air Lines rose 2.14%, American Airlines gained 4.02%, and United Airlines climbed 4.46%. In contrast, financial stocks were mixed. Blackstone fell 1.97%, while Morgan Stanley rose 1.75% and Goldman Sachs gained 2.43%, resulting in a divergent performance.

Bloomberg noted that President Trump's latest statement triggered the most volatile trading day on Wall Street since the outbreak of the Iran war, sparking a sharp five-minute surge in stock prices. Bloomberg also interpreted the remarks as an attempt to calm fears over the escalation of the Iran war and to prevent a sell-off.

In fact, leading large-cap stocks all rose together. Nvidia gained 1.82%, Apple 1.24%, Amazon 2.64%, and Meta 1.40%.

Regarding the buying trend that day, experts assessed that the White House's messaging was not cautious enough. Jordan Rochester, a strategist at Mizuho Bank, said, "The hardest part is not predicting the war itself but predicting the content of the White House's announcements and the market's reaction," adding, "The market is confused as to whether this is a credible signal that the end is near, or just another 'almost completed' situation."

Brad Conger, Chief Investment Officer at Hirtle Callaghan, said, "It is concerning that issues once dependent on President Trump's decisions are no longer so, as with tariff rollbacks," and pointed out, "Those who are encouraged by President Trump's response to the market are holding onto a misguided belief."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.