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May 26, 2026 / 9:59 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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Stocks rose on Tuesday despite renewed tensions in the Persian Gulf as investors clung to hopes of a deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.The U.S. military overnight struck Iranian missile launch sites and other targets, attacks that Iran's Foreign Ministry called a "grave violation" of the countries' ceasefire. President Trump said on Saturday that a peace agreement had been "largely negotiated."The S&P 500 rose 48 points, or 0.7%, to 7,522 on Tuesday morning, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1%.Benchmark U.S. crude oil declined $3.67 to $92.97 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained $3.03 to $96.45 a barrel after falling nearly $5 on Monday.Stocks have climbed to new records despite the jump in oil prices since the Iran war began in late February, buoyed by hopes that the conflict will be short-lived. But higher oil prices have pushed up gasoline and other energy costs, driving inflation to its highest level in almost three years and squeezing household budgets."At this point in time, formally ending hostilities and reopening Hormuz is nothing but positive," said Adam Crisafulli, an analyst at Vital Knowledge, in a Tuesday research note. "Stocks have been on a multi-week tear, and while anticipation of an Iran détente certainly played a role, there was still a fair degree of anxiety in the market that the U.S. and Israel would resume air strikes, kicking off a catastrophic spiral of violence that would have dramatically exacerbated the existing energy/supply chain strains."Average gasoline prices have eased in recent days, also on optimism that the two nations will reach an accord. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business that he believes "energy prices are going to plummet" once the Strait of Hormuz reopens to oil tanker traffic.
