Last night! Oil prices plunged from high levels! The US stock market reversed dramatically! Trump: Temporarily lifting some oil-related sanctions

U.S. stocks opened lower but recovered to close higher, while oil prices plunged from high levels.

On March 9 (Monday), U.S. major stock indices all closed higher, with the Dow up 0.5%, the Nasdaq up 1.38%, and the S&P 500 up 0.83%.

International oil prices sharply dropped from high levels, with both WTI and Brent crude futures falling over 9% intraday. During the Asian trading session that day, WTI and Brent crude surged about 30%, approaching $120 per barrel. As of press time, both WTI and Brent have fallen back below $90 per barrel.

In the news, U.S. President Trump stated at a press conference on March 9 that due to market turmoil caused by the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran, he will lift some oil-related sanctions to stabilize oil prices. Trump also said the conflict with Iran will “end soon,” but “not” within this week.

U.S. Stocks Make a Major Reversal; Chinese Concept Stocks Strong

On March 9, U.S. major indices opened lower but reversed to close higher during the session. All three indices opened down sharply, with the Dow dropping over 1.8%, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 falling more than 1.5%. Near the close, they surged significantly into the green, with the Nasdaq up over 1%.

Most tech stocks rose, including Micron Technology and TSMC, which gained over 5%, ASML up 5%, Intel and ON Semiconductor up over 4%, ARM, Nvidia, and Google-A up over 2%, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments up over 1%, and Apple, Tesla, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft rising modestly.

Energy stocks showed mixed performance: Petrobras rose over 3%, Halliburton, Western Oil, and Shell gained over 1%, Schlumberger and BP rose slightly; U.S. energy stocks fell over 8%, Murphy Oil dropped over 2%, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips declined slightly.

Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 1.76%. Kingsoft Cloud surged over 19%, XPeng and Bilibili up over 6%, Li Auto nearly 4%, Dingdong Maicai and NIO up over 3%, Xiaomi Group (ADR) and Niu Technologies over 2%, JD.com and Alibaba over 1%, and Zhongtong Express, Pinduoduo, and Miniso saw slight gains.

International Oil Prices Plunge from High Levels

International oil prices sharply declined, with Brent crude futures dropping 9% to around $84 per barrel. Earlier in the Asian trading session, Brent surged 30% to about $120 per barrel. Currently, both WTI and Brent have fallen back below $90.

On Wall Street, $100 per barrel is seen as a critical economic threshold. Unless the war ends quickly and prices fall, there could be serious economic impacts. Following the sharp rise during the Asian session, Asia-Pacific markets experienced a “Black Monday”: South Korea’s Kospi closed down 5.96% at 5,251.87 points, with an intraday drop of 8%, triggering the second circuit breaker this month—the first time since March 2020. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 5.2% to 52,728.72, the largest single-day decline since early April 2025.

According to Xinhua News Agency, President Trump stated at a press conference that due to market turmoil caused by U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran, he will lift some oil sanctions to stabilize prices. He also said the conflict with Iran will “end soon,” but “not” within this week.

CCTV International reported that Trump, speaking at a golf club in Miami, Florida, said that oil prices “haven’t surged as much as he feared,” but the U.S. is temporarily waiving some oil-related sanctions to ensure sufficient supply and lower prices. Trump stated, “We have sanctions on some countries. We will temporarily lift these sanctions until the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal.” He did not specify further, but it is understood that the U.S. issued a 30-day temporary exemption last week allowing Russian oil currently stranded at sea to be sold to India.

Additionally, the G7 finance ministers issued a statement on March 9, saying they are prepared to take necessary measures, including releasing reserves, to support global energy supply. They held a video conference with IMF, World Bank, OECD, and IEA leaders to discuss the current Middle East conflict. The statement noted that all parties will continue to monitor developments and energy market dynamics, and will hold further meetings if necessary to share information and strengthen coordination among G7 and international partners.

According to CCTV News, on March 9, the Eurogroup meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium. In the post-meeting press conference, Eurogroup President Pierrakakis said they are closely watching the market response to Middle East developments, noting “energy prices are under upward pressure.” He mentioned the meeting discussed possible measures and the need to coordinate actions while monitoring the situation. They also examined structural issues in European energy. European Commission Economic Affairs Commissioner Donohoe said it is too early to specify policies regarding Middle East tensions but confirmed readiness to take necessary measures, including using strategic oil reserves.

(Source: Securities Times)