Global markets rallied Friday after President Donald Trump confirmed he would not authorize military action against Iran before the midterm elections, while simultaneously announcing a deal with Vladimir Putin to release Russian diesel onto world markets.
The twin developments eased immediate fears of a broader Middle East conflict and offered relief for strained energy supplies. Oil prices have surged for weeks as Tehran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz following US-Israeli strikes on Iran starting in late February.
Trump described the talks with Tehran as “productive discussions,” walking back reports that the White House had requested Pentagon strike plans ahead of the November 3 vote. Meanwhile, the diesel arrangement with Moscow temporarily lifts certain sanctions.
Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones said the pact has been “alleviating some of the worst-case scenarios” tied to supply and inflation.
Yet analysts cautioned against reading too much into the headlines. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, noted that underlying Middle East tensions remain unresolved. “So long as tanker and insurance rates remain at their current painful levels, a sustained decline in oil prices is much less likely,” he said.
Tech stocks recovered from Thursday’s selloff. That drop came after the Financial Times reported OpenAI expected $50 billion in annualized revenue, well below the $70 billion target. Bloomberg later cited unnamed sources saying the company still anticipated hitting the original figure.
Chris Weston at Pepperstone suggested the gap likely reflects different accounting methods rather than a genuine slowdown.
The initial report pushed the Nasdaq down more than one percent Thursday, dragging Nvidia down nearly three percent. Microsoft, AMD and Amazon also fell sharply. By Friday’s close, however, those losses reversed. Microsoft gained 2.4 percent and Amazon climbed 3.3 percent.
Josh Gilbert at eToro framed the coming weeks as a critical test. “The large test comes as earnings season gets going,” he said, pointing to whether companies writing the biggest checks for AI remain committed to those investments.
Separately, China and the European Union reached an understanding to moderate hybrid vehicle exports. The agreement could prevent millions of Chinese cars from flooding European markets, according to the bloc’s commerce chief. BMW, Renault and Volkswagen shares each rose more than two percent.
US benchmarks closed firmly higher. The Dow added 0.8 percent to 51,654.95. The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to 7,811.54, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent to 27,366.17.
European markets posted solid gains. London’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.1 percent, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 1.1 percent, and Paris’s CAC 40 added 1.0 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.8 percent, though Tokyo’s Nikkei ended flat.
Brent crude settled at $104.72 per barrel, up 0.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate also rose 0.4 percent to $91.85.
Currency markets saw the dollar strengthen against the yen to 158.27, while the pound edged up against the greenback to $1.3240.
