Published on 23/03/2026 05:23 PM
Donald Trump moves the market yet again — Here's what he said and how asset classes reactedBrent crude futures for the May contracts is down 7.7% but is holding on to levels of $100 a barrel, while those expiring in June have tanked 6.5% and are trading just around the mark of $100 a barrel as well.By Hormaz Fatakia March 23, 2026, 5:23:14 PM IST (Updated)3 Min ReadUS President Donald Trump has announced that negotiations with Iran, held over the last two sessions, have resulted in him instructing the Department of War to postpone all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure over a five-day period.
Trump's post on Truth Social has sparked a sharp reversal among risk-on assets and a sharp drop in crude oil prices, which had surged to multi-year highs. Here's how various asset classes have reacted after the post by Trump:
US Futures
Dow Futures, which were down as much as 400 points on Monday before market open, surged as much as 1,150 points, before paring some gains to trade 800 points higher.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures, which were also down over 1% a few minutes ago, have reversed course, and are trading with gains of 130 points and 450 points respectively.
Crude Oil Prices
Oil prices, which witnessed the biggest surge since the hostilities began in West Asia at the start of the month, have seen a sharp reversal from the highs.
Brent crude futures for the May contracts is down 7.7% but is holding on to levels of $100 a barrel, while those expiring in June have tanked 6.5% and are trading just around the mark of $100 a barrel as well.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or the US crude variant, has also reversed course for the June futures, which are now trading 7.5% lower at $88 a barrel.
GIFT Nifty
GIFT Nifty, which is an early indicator of how markets are likely to move in the upcoming session, also jumped after Trump's remarks, which came after market closing hours in India.
The GIFT Nifty is up over 650 points after the US President's post on Truth Social.
The Nifty 50 index fell 600 points on Monday, extending their losses well into the "technical correction" zone.
The Nifty 50, as of Monday's close, is down nearly 15% from the record high levels of 26,373 that it had surged to in January this year.
Gold & Silver
The asset class that was the worst impacted due to the ongoing conflict was Gold and Silver, known as haven assets, but as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears, hopes of easing monetary policy from global central banks dwindled.
Higher interest rates are negative for bullion as they are not interest yielding instruments.
However, while prices have not surged significantly, they have definitely pared losses from earlier in the day. Gold prices are down over 20% from their recent peak, while Silver nearly halved from the highs at the lows of the session.
However, it must be noted that while Trump has made these announcements by himself, there is no official statement or reaction that has emerged from the Iranian side just yet.Continue ReadingFirst Published: Mar 23, 2026 5:17 PM ISTTagscrude oil pricesDonald TrumpDow JonesGold PricesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500silver pricesUS Iran war