Dow Falls Over 540 Points After US-Iran Ceasefire Ends — Trump Says US Will Hit Iran ‘Hard Tonight’

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 540 points, while the S&P 500 index declined about 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%.

• Trump previously announced that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was over after the United States struck Iranian targets on Tuesday night.
• He also expressed his dissatisfaction with Iranian negotiators, saying that while the two sides would discuss Iran’s denuclearization, the negotiators would deny any discussion on this aspect afterward.
• Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures expiring in August rising 4.8% to hover around $73.82 a barrel.

U.S. equities declined in the morning trade after President Donald Trump announced that the United States will undertake fresh strikes on Iran later on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell more than 540 points, while the S&P 500 index declined about 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%.

“I’ll give a little warning. We’re going to hit them hard tonight,” Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in Turkey, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy next to him.

US-Iran Ceasefire Over, Says Trump

Trump previously announced that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was over after the United States struck Iranian targets on Tuesday night. “We’ll see how it works out. No, I’m not happy with them,” he told reporters on Wednesday, while adding that the Iran war is about denuclearization and not regime change.

Trump also expressed his dissatisfaction with Iranian negotiators, saying that while the two sides would discuss Iran’s denuclearization, the negotiators would deny any talks about this aspect following the discussions.

“They [are] cuckoo. There’s something wrong with these people. For 47 years, they’ve been the bully of the Middle East… they’re not the bully anymore,” he said, while reiterating that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

Crude Oil Prices Soar

Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday following the end of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran after Tuesday’s strikes. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures expiring in August were up 4.8%, hovering around $73.82 a barrel. Brent crude futures expiring in September rose 5.18%, hovering around $78 a barrel.

The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) rose over 2%, while the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) gained about 3%.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, fell 0.57%; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) was down 0.29%; and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 0.97%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits regarding the S&P 500 ETF was in ‘extremely bullish’ territory.

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