Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange on March 9, 2026.
NYSE
Here’s what you need to know today
Oil prices extended a slide on Tuesday as investors weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning about an early end to the war and escalating attacks on Tehran if oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz are blocked.
Earlier in a phone conversation with CBS News, Trump said he was considering seizing control of the Straits, saying “the war is pretty much over, pretty much,” sending U.S. stocks higher. Asian markets also recovered, with South Korea’s Kospi trading up more than 5% to lead the region. European markets are set to open in the green as oil prices pared losses.
However, U.S. stock futures were lower early Tuesday as traders assessed Trump’s recent comments that hinted at a possible escalation over the Strait of Hormuz. With the critical chokepoint effectively closed, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmail Baghai warned that oil tankers passing through the waterway “should be very careful.”
Monday’s oil shock, meanwhile, prompted South Korea to impose price caps on energy 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 TV broadcast, as gasoline prices in the country rise.
Amid geopolitical and energy turmoil, people are placing bets on an Iran war, prompting a backlash and raising questions about the predictability of red lines that markets must enforce. Last week, Polymarket posted the odds of a nuclear explosion on X by the end of the year, before deleting the post and removing nuclear-related markets, drawing online outrage.
And finally…
The Iran war has put the brakes on the next Bank of England rate cut
Before war erupted in Iran, the Bank of England was widely assumed to be on track to cut interest rates at next week’s meeting.
But economists predicted that the U.S. and Israel’s attack on major oil producer Iran and the turmoil engulfing the wider Middle East as the war escalated put the brakes on the March rate cut.
– Holly Elliott
(Tags to translate)World Markets(T)Markets(T)United States Oil Fund(T)LP(T)Chenier Energy Inc(T)Chevron Corp(T)ConocoPhillips(T)Donald Trump(T)Foreign Policy(T)ESCI South Korea ETFB(ETFC) Fund(T)Iran(T)Total Energies SE
