US stocks surge on hopes Iran war will end soon

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rocketed higher Tuesday (Mar 31) while oil prices retreated after Iran's president said his country had the "necessary will" to end the war with the United States and Israel, lifting hopes that a resolution was in site.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with the president of the European Council, said Iran had "the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met - especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression."

The comments prompted a surge in US equities, with the blue-chip Dow index finishing up 2.5 per cent, or more than 1,125 points, at 46,341.51.

"This is the first concrete communication coming from Iran that feels verifiable," said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. "The market has been coiled for good news after having been down the last five weeks."

Stocks appeared to shrug off subsequent remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the more than month-long military campaign against Tehran was not over, vowing to crush Iran's "terror regime."

Pezeshkian's remarks also shifted the oil market, which has been a major driver of financial markets since the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

Brent oil futures finished down 3.2 per cent at US$103.97 a barrel.

Even before Pezeshkian's remarks, US and European stocks had risen following reports that US President Donald Trump had said he was willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened.

But worries about oil supplies continue to hang over markets. 

The head of a maritime analyst group warned in an interview with AFP that Asia was confronting a major energy crisis as it faces the gravest fallout from the war.

"We think Asia will, for now, be the ones suffering the most," Kpler president Jean Maynier told AFP at the company's offices in Singapore.

Oil "remains painfully high for economies to deal with," noted Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

In a sign that Trump will likely face pressure to bring crude prices down, the American Automobile Association said US gas prices jumped above an average of US$4 a gallon for the first time since 2022, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. 

European stocks rose despite data showing that eurozone inflation leapt in March because of surging energy prices, hitting its highest level since Jan 2025.

Consumer prices rose 2.5 per cent, up sharply from 1.9 per cent in Feb, the EU's statistics agency said.

Asia's main stock markets closed mixed.