Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq soar as Trump postpones Iran strike, citing ‘very good’ talks
Oil traded slightly below last week’s closing prices at the start of futures trading on Sunday, about 24 hours before the end of President Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Iran.
Futures contract prices for Brent crude oil (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, initially rose but quickly lost gains in the minutes after Sunday’s open, trading around $106 per barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) changed hands around $97.90 per barrel.
In a post published on Truth Social at 6:45pm on Saturday, President Trump said Iran has 48 hours to “FULLY OPEN THE Strait of Hormuz WITHOUT THREAT” or “within exactly 48 HOURS from this point the United States will Shoot and destroy various POWER PLANTSSTART WITH THE BIGGEST FIRST!”
The US president’s threat follows a week of attacks by the Iranian regime on energy infrastructure in the Gulf, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG export terminal, the world’s largest facility.
Goldman Sachs’ oil desk, led by Daan Struyven, head of oil research, raised its oil price targets in a note to clients on Sunday evening and now expects Brent to trade at $110 a barrel through March and April; This is on top of the previous call for $98 per barrel in the same time frame, assuming “Hormuz flows will remain at only 5% of normal levels for a longer period of 6 weeks before a gradual 1-month recovery.”
The bank currently assumes the average 2026 price for Brent and WTI will be $85 and $79 per barrel, respectively; This is higher than the previous estimate of $77 and $72 per barrel for the two benchmarks. Goldman expects Brent and WTI to average $80 and $75 per barrel in 2027, respectively.
“In the short term, the market is likely to need an increased risk premium to create precautionary demand destruction to protect against shortages in longer disruption risk scenarios,” Goldman’s Struyven, Yulia Grigsby and Alexandra Paulus wrote. he wrote.
“High concentration in production and recognition of risks from spare capacity will likely lead to structurally higher strategic stockpiling and long-term prices.”
