US stocks fall, Brent heads for biggest monthly rise since 1990

The main U.S. stock indices opened on March 26 with a decline, having suspended the growth started the day before. Investors remain cautious, assessing the events in the Middle East and the prospects for de-escalation of the conflict, writes Reuters.

Amid the ongoing war, the broad index of American stocks S&P 500 lost 0.8% in the first minutes of trading, technological Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.2%, industrial Dow Jones fell by 0.51%. The index of small and medium capitalization companies Russell 2000 is the only one that went into the green zone - it adds 1.23%.

May Brent crude futures jumped more than 4% to $106.66 per barrel. Contracts for WTI are also growing by 3.8%, trading at $93.77. Brent is on its way to recording the largest monthly growth since 1990, Bloomberg writes. Before the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East in late February, its cost was $72.7 per barrel.

The Wall Street Fear Index (VIX) is up more than 6% to 27 points (any value above 20 indicates volatility in the markets).

Such dynamics markets show against the background of ongoing efforts of Washington and Arab mediators to end the war in the Middle East, which so far, however, do not lead to significant progress, writes The Wall Street Journal. On March 26, U.S. President Donald Trump, seeking to pressure Tehran to step up negotiations, threatened Iran with more military action: "They [Iranian negotiators] better get serious about this [ceasefire and peace talks] before it's too late, because once it happens, there's no turning back, and nothing good will come out of it," Trump wrote in Truth Social. Iran, for its part, has publicly rejected any U.S. offers. Pakistan, which mediates the dialog between Washington and Tehran, says the sides are engaged in indirect talks.

"The relative calm in markets suggests some investor confidence that hostilities may eventually subside, although that prospect remains very elusive," said Rabobank macro strategist Molly Schwartz (quoted by Reuters).

"Markets seem to have reached an impasse, with investors caught between two conflicting viewpoints," Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, observed in a conversation with Reuters, referring to conflicting statements from the U.S. and Iran on peace talks. - This has created a delicate balance around asset classes where positioning reflects caution rather than confidence," she added.

Markets are "once again under the influence of oil futures," noted Siebert Financial Chief Investment Officer Mark Malek (quoted by Bloomberg). "In general, I think traders are gradually starting to factor [in prices] a new scenario in which the closure of the [Strait of Hormuz] (through which about 20% of the world's total offshore oil supply and a significant amount of LNG passed before the war began. - Oninvest) will last even longer than the worst-case scenario that most of us modeled just two or three weeks ago," he said.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor