Dow futures extend gains to 1,100 points after Trump suspends Iran attacks for two weeks, oil tanks

Futures on Wall Street have surged after the close of regular trading on Tuesday, April 7, local time, after US President Donald Trump announced that he will pause bombings on Iran for a two-week period, subject to Iran unconditionally reopening the Strait of Hormuz during this period.

The Dow futures surged as much as 1,060 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures saw gains of 160 and 750 points respectively as the futures market began trading after the close of the regular trading day.

"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

During the regular trading session, the Dow Jones recovered over 370 points from the lows of the day to end just below the flat line, while the S&P 500 saw an 80-point recovery. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also recovered 400 points from the lows. Both S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended above the flat line with modest gains.

Futures had already begun to surge ahead of US President Donald Trump's 8 PM Eastern Time deadline for Tuesday, before which, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requested him for a two-week extension on social media platform "X" and correspondingly, also asked Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks as "a goodwill gesture."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that Trump "has been made aware of the proposal, and a response will come." Trump made his announcement just a few minutes after the futures market began trading on Tuesday evening local time.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will," Trump had earlier posted on Truth Social before Wall Street began trading on Tuesday.

As a result of these last ditch moves and Trump's announcement subsequently, the US crude oil prices have dropped as much as 17%, to slip below the $100 a barrel mark, having tested highs of $116.5 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude is also trading 13% lower this morning at around $95 a barrel.

Among other asset classes, while the US Dollar index has dropped 0.5%, Gold and Silver prices are seeing gains between 2.5% to 4% respectively.