The US stock market rises as the US-Iran deal raises hopes of an end to the energy crisis | Financial Markets

The benchmark S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 3.1 percent.

US stocks have been buoyed by hopes that a deal expected to end the US-Israel war in Iran will restore stability to energy supply chains disrupted by the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent on Monday, taking the benchmark index to its highest level.

The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.1 percent, helped by a 19.6 percent gain in SpaceX, which on Friday made the biggest market cap in history and made the world’s first trillionaire Elon Musk.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9 percent, closing at a record high.

Brent crude futures, the world’s main benchmark for oil prices, fell nearly 5 percent to over $83 a barrel, the lowest price since the first week of the dispute.

Asian markets were flat on Monday morning, after rising the previous day on the back of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal with Tehran.

By 01:30 GMT, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.01 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi, the best performer this year, was down 0.06 percent.

In Taiwan, TAIEX rose 0.2 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.07 percent.

Jay Goldberg, a technology analyst at Seaport Research Partners in Chicago, said the announcement of the US-Iran deal has caused investors to reduce the risk of buying the stock market.

“To oversimplify it, the argument was: The use of AI is powerful, but there is a war,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“The war is over, it seems, so that side of the argument is over.” Investors now feel comfortable taking on more risk,” Goldberg said.

Although the policy of Washington and Tehran has raised hopes of a return to stability in the international energy markets, it is expected to take many months before the energy can return to normal, due to the large blockade of ships around the Strait of Hormuz and the need to ensure that the waterway is safe from Iranian naval mines.

According to the International Shipping Chamber, about 500 ships are still waiting to pass through the strait, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.