Oil prices jumped and US stocks pared losses following President Trump’s address to the nation Wednesday night, where he reiterated his argument that the US is close to completing its goals but said the war is not over yet.
Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international benchmark, reversed from multi-percentage losses to a gain of roughly 7%, trading above $108 per barrel after dropping below $100 earlier in the session. Those on US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) reversed from earlier losses to gain roughly 11% and trade near $111 per barrel.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.4% after paring back losses of more than 1%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped 0.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined by about 0.3%.
Without laying out any truly new information in his speech, the president implied Wednesday night that the US would be escalating the conflict in an attempt to end it, noting that the US is sending Iran “back to the stone ages” in an attempt to cripple their ability to threaten global security.
Trump, who repeated the two-to-three-week timeline for US involvement that he floated to reporters on Tuesday, had been reportedly considering pulling the US military out of Iran while leaving control over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved. The president did not take a strong stance on the issue on Wednesday night.
Read more: What an extended war with Iran could mean for gas prices
President Trump said Wednesday night that other countries should “take the lead” in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, doubling down on the possibility that the US may aim to leave Iran with that economically vital issue unresolved.
“We will be helpful, but they should take the lead,” Trump said of the strait, adding that other nations “must take care of that passage, they must cherish it, they must grab it,” claiming that it can be done easily.
He said the crucial 21-mile-wide waterway, a critical energy choke point where one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, may also “open up naturally.”
The president also claimed the US is “totally independent of the Middle East” and that “We don’t need their oil,” and that the US is “there to help … our allies.”