Trump Says Iran Conflict 'Very Complete', Wall Street Pushes Stocks Higher

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Oil tumbled in early trading after US President Donald Trump signaled the Iran war could be ending soon, while Asian equities were set to climb after a bullish end to Monday’s session on Wall Street.Equity index futures for Australia, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong all climbed after the S&P 500 index rose 0.8% on Monday, reversing intraday losses. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped as much as 10%. Ten-year Treasury yields halted a five-day increase and the dollar weakened. The optimistic shift was triggered by Trump’s comments in a CBS interview that the conflict is “very complete, pretty much” and the military operation is “very far” ahead of its initial four- to five-week timeframe. The whipsaw session underscored how exposed markets remain to every development in the Middle East conflict, with a single headline enough to reverse billions of dollars in losses. Volatility shows no signs of letting up as investors weigh a fast-shifting geopolitical conflict with no clear trading playbook.  President Donald Trump said the US and Israel are making significant progress in the war on Iran and could end the conflict “very soon,” cooling a surge in oil prices. Trump said the operation that began Feb. 28 is ahead of schedule, while cautioning that fighting would still not be over this week. The two allies continued to bomb Iran overnight and into Tuesday morning, with the Islamic Republic firing drones and missiles at targets across the Middle East in return.   Asked whether he would be willing to talk to the Iranians, Trump said it would be possible, Fox News reported on Tuesday. Iranian officials have pushed back against that idea, with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf saying on X that the country is “absolutely” not seeking a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS’s News Hour on Monday that talks with the US are not “on our agenda.” Addressing concerns about soaring energy prices, Trump said Monday that the US Navy will escort tankers to maintain a steady oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz. The effective closure of the waterway — vital to the world’s flow of petroleum — has created bottlenecks and caused regional energy giants to slash production.   Brent crude, having climbed to almost $120 a barrel early Monday, eased to about $91 in Tuesday trade. That’s still more than 50% higher than at the start of the year.  Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lowered their collective output by as much as 6.7 million barrels a day, people with knowledge of the matter said. That amounts to about 6% of global supply. There’s little sign Hormuz can be opened quickly without at least a pause in hostilities.  Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser called the disruption “the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced.” Trump told Republican lawmakers that the US and Israel are “crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force.”  He later said the US had hit 5,000 targets in Iran, reducing the country’s missile capability to a 10th of what it was. The military objectives of the war could be described as “pretty well complete,” he said. Even so, Iran pressed ahead with attacks on Israel and Arab states on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates said it was responding to a missile threat from the Islamic Republic, hours after it reported a drone attack on its consulate in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. One person was killed in an attack on the Bahraini capital of Manama, while Kuwait intercepted six drones. There are early signs the attacks on some countries, including the UAE, are waning. Countries from Australia to South Korea and the UK have either helped to boost defenses of Gulf allies or are assessing requests to do so. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is prepared to scale back the conflict “on the condition that the airspace, territory, and waters” of neighboring countries aren’t used to launch attacks on the Islamic Republic, according to semi-official Mehr news agency. -------- Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube Weekdays 7am-6pm ET WATCH HERE: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/BloombergRadio Subscribe to our Podcasts: Bloomberg Daybreak: http://bit.ly/3DWYoAN Bloomberg Surveillance: http://bit.ly/3OPtReI Bloomberg Intelligence: http://bit.ly/3YrBfOi Balance of Power: http://bit.ly/3OO8eLC Bloomberg Businessweek: http://bit.ly/3IPl60i Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app: Apple CarPlay: https://apple.co/486mghI Android Auto: https://bit.ly/49benZy Visit our YouTube channels: Bloomberg Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/bloombergpodcasts Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg Quicktake: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergQuicktake