John Authers, Columnist

Oil and Stocks Depend on How Serious Trump Deal Is

Markets care far more about the Strait than Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump and mixed martial artist Ilia Topuria in the Oval Office. 

Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca

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Washington’s U-turns in the Gulf have sent oil prices swinging wildly in recent weeks, but US stocks have moved in only one direction: up. So the market’s reaction to Tuesday’s reversal of the US decision to provide escorts for selected vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and then an Axios story saying a peace deal was close, should not have been surprising. Brent crude’s plunge didn’t last long, and it pared some losses when Tehran suggested a deal wasn’t imminent: