Crude oil prices tumble 10% as Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz for ceasefire period

In a post on X published Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote, “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.”

It must be noted that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire after officials from the two countries met in Washington, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

The temporary truce started at 5 p.m. ET (2:30 am India Standard Time (IST) on Thursday), Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Wall Street update

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% as US stocks ran toward the finish of a third straight week of big gains, their longest such streak since Halloween. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 678 points, or 1.4%, as of 9:35 am Eastern time (7:05 pm), and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.

Stocks on Wall Street have jumped more than 11% since hitting a bottom in late March on hopes that the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy despite their war.

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is the clearest yet signal for optimism, and US President Donald Trump said in a speech late Thursday that the war “should be ending pretty soon".

The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude tumbled 10.8% to $81.28.

Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 10.3% to $89.13. To be sure, it remains above its $70 level from before the war, indicating some caution is still embedded in financial markets.

Several times since the war began, optimism on Wall Street has quickly swung to doubt about a possible end to the fighting. That in turn has caused vicious and sudden swings in prices for everything from stocks to bonds to oil.

Earnings season: Strong start

A strong start to the earnings reporting season for big US companies has also helped to support the US stock market, and several more financial companies joined the list on Friday of companies delivering bigger profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.

State Street rose 2.9%, and Fifth Third Bancorp added 1.9% after both reported better results for the latest quarter than expected.

They helped offset an 11.5% drop for Netflix, which fell even though it likewise delivered a better profit than expected. It did not raise its forecast for revenue growth for the full year, which analysts said may have disappointed some investors.

It also said Reed Hastings, cofounder and chairman of the streaming company, will step down from its board of directors in June when his term expires.

Global stock markets

Stock indexes jumped in Europe following Iran's announcement about the Strait of Hormuz. France's CAC 40 jumped 2%, and Germany's DAX returned 2.2%.

In Asia, where trading finished for the day before the announcement, indexes were weaker. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.8%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9% for two of the biggest losses.

Stock market in India

In India, benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY50, rallied nearly 1% on Friday, driven by optimism surrounding easing geopolitical tensions, falling crude prices, and fresh foreign fund inflows.

Renewed hopes of a diplomatic resolution between the US and Iran, along with a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, have materially improved global risk appetite, a market analyst said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 504.86 points, or 0.65%, to settle at 78,493.54. During the day, it surged 564.77 points, or 0.72%, to 78,553.45.

A total of 3,043 stocks advanced while 1,284 declined and 166 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 156.80 points, or 0.65%, to end at 24,353.55.

Indian markets closed at 3:30 PM, before the Strait of Hormuz reopening announcement.