Oil prices plunge and stocks jump after Trump announces conditional ceasefire with Iran

Oil heads for biggest daily fall since pandemic as Iran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz under its management US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefire as Tehran says it will reopen strait of Hormuz Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday and global stock markets rallied after the US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire. Investors welcomed the news that Donald Trump had held off on his threat to bomb Iran into “the stone ages”, while Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said passage through the strait of Hormuz would be allowed for the next two weeks under the management of Iran’s military. Wall Street recorded its biggest single-day rally in a year. Oil fell below the $100-a-barrel mark, even though it was not certain that the US would accept a 10-point proposal drawn up by Iran. How the strait will be reopened and managed beyond the two-week grace period is yet to be determined. Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped by 16%, while US crude oil futures sank by 17.6%. However, prices later recovered off their lows as Israel launched its biggest attacks yet on Lebanon and on reports that Iran halted the passage of oil tankers because of an alleged Israeli