Oil prices rise, stocks fall after ceasefire said 'over' | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Oil prices rose and stock markets fell in shaky trading worldwide on Wednesday after President Donald Trump raised doubts about a temporary ceasefire in the war with Iran. The S&P 500 dropped as much as 1.1% after Trump said the ceasefire agreement was “over,” but the index later cut its decline to 0.3% after he said the recent fighting would not mean a return to full-scale war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 576 points, or about 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% after erasing an early loss. The move was more pronounced in oil, where Brent climbed 5.2% to $78.02 and briefly topped $80, still under a peak near $120 earlier in the war. The key worry was that continued conflict could block the Strait of Hormuz and impede Persian Gulf crude deliveries, worsening inflation and potentially pushing the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates. Housing shares led losses, while some AI-related stocks, including Nvidia (+3.7%) and Broadcom (+4.8%), helped cushion the broader selloff.