Bitcoin and the stock market have rebounded, along with a cooling in oil market prices after U.S. President Donald Trump said the conflict with Iran could end very soon.
BTC picked up by 2.5% over a 24-hour period and was trading at roughly $68.6k at the time of writing. Oil dipped by more than 3% on Wednesday, a possible sign that the crude market may be cooling. The S&P500 index is up by more than 180 points (+2.91%), now trading at 6,528 points.
The prices of crude oil indexes are as follows:
- WTI crude: $98.27 (-3.07%)
- Brent crude: $101.2 (-2.64%)
- Murban crude: $106.8 (-3.58%)
- WTI Midland: $103.1 (-2.89%)
- OPEC Basket: $117.1 (-0.84%)
- Indian basket: $121.2 (-22.85%)
Oil companies have already passed down the increase in prices to consumers, with residents in the U.A.E, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nigeria, the United States, South Africa, Europe, and the U.K. facing higher fuel costs at the pump.
The update comes after a wave of tweets in which Trump has taken many positions on the conflict, ranging from saying countries need to assert their own independence and get their own crude oil from the Strait of Hormuz to claiming peace talks with Iran, which its military officials have denied.
“We leave because there’s no reason for us to do this,” said Trump to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, also saying that the U.S.-Iran conflict could end in “two to three weeks,”
Trump has yet to give an important update on the conflict, which the White House said will be delivered on Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET.
Regarding peace talks, Trump said, “They want to make a deal more than I want to make a deal, but in a fairly short period of time will be finished.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that there will be no peace until Iran’s conditions are met.
The conflict is still ongoing, with GCC countries bearing its brunt, with Qatar and Kuwait reporting attacks, including drone attacks on Kuwait International Airport and an oil tanker in Qatari waters.