The world breathed a tentative sigh of relief — and stock markets went on a run — after a two-week ceasefire halted hostilities in Iran and reopened the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for the global oil market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 3.1 percent, or 1,421.66 points, to 48,006.12 in the early minutes of trading on Wednesday. Markets were up more than 4 percent in Frankfurt, Paris and Milan and ahead 2.8 percent in London.
In fashion, most of the biggest gains were seen in Europe, although Levi Strauss & Co. was buoyed as well by strong first-quarter results and saw its stock jump 12.3 percent to $22.28 in morning trading.
The other big gainers included Compagnie Financière Richemont, up 8.7 percent to 152.75 Swiss francs; On Holding, 8.4 percent to $35; Kering, 8.4 percent to 278.45 euros; Birkenstock Holding, 8.3 percent to $37.56; Hermès International, 8.2 percent to 1,784 euros; Under Armour Inc., 8.2 percent to $6.23; E.l.f. Beauty Inc., 8 percent to $65.84; LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, 8 percent to 504.70 euros; Capri Holdings, 7.9 percent to $19.69; Tapestry Inc., 7.7 percent to $151.7, and VF Corp., 7.3 percent to $18.13.
The global tension broke after U.S. President Donald Trump backed away from his threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight” in Iran, which the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28 in an effort to defang its authoritarian government.
Oil and gasoline prices shot up around the world after the war started, threatening to derail the global economy and making already on-edge consumers all that more hesitant.
A gallon of regular in the U.S. is selling for an average of $4.16, an increase from $3.45 a month ago, according to AAA. That’s hit consumer confidence, which fell 6 percent in March, according to University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers.
Even if the Strait of Hormuz stays open and war does not flare back up, it is expected to take months for the oil market to resettle.
But that best-case scenario seems much more possible today — and investors are going to celebrate the good times while they can.