Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the opening bell on February 18, 2026 in New York City.
Angela Weiss | afp | fake images
What you need to know today
Oil prices fell in extended trading on Monday after US President Donald Trump said in a phone conversation with CBS News that he was considering taking control of the Strait of Hormuz. He added that “the war is virtually complete,” after which major US indices recovered from earlier losses.
U.S. stock futures fell late Monday as traders weigh comments from Trump – who also said at a news conference on Monday that the war will end “very soon” – and as they monitor the latest developments outside Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical chokepoint that has been effectively closed, and an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, warned that oil tankers passing through the waterway “must be very careful.” Baghaei also told CNBC’s Dan Murphy that Iran was not responsible for the war and that attacking American “bases and military assets” in the region was “legitimate under international law.”
Monday’s oil crisis prompted South Korea to impose a price cap on fuel products for the first time in 30 years. President Lee Jae Myung said the government will explore ways to diversify its energy import sources, according to a television broadcast, as gasoline prices rise in the country.
Amid geopolitical and energy turmoil, people have been placing bets on the Iran war, sparking a backlash and raising questions about the predictive red lines that markets should impose. Last week, Polymarket allegedly posted the probabilities of a nuclear detonation by the end of the year on
