By Alexander Osipovich
Traders are abuzz about a mysterious burst of activity in oil and stock-index futures that took place early Monday, shortly before President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was postponing strikes on Iranian power plants thanks to "productive" talks with Iran.
During the two-minute period between 6:49 am and 6:51 am ET on Monday, about 7,200 contracts in Brent and West Texas Intermediate oil futures, with a notional value of more than $760 million, changed hands, according to Dow Jones Market Data. There was no apparent news that prompted the surge in trading activity. About 15 minutes later, Trump's post triggered a huge drop in oil prices and a jump in the S&P 500.
A similar burst of activity took place at the same time in S&P 500 futures. It's impossible to tell from the public market who was behind the trades, or how many traders were involved. Oil prices didn't move appreciably during the 6:50 am ET volume jump, which was dwarfed by the tidal wave of trading activity that followed Trump's post.
Similar bursts of trading volume have preceded other market-moving Trump posts. Last April, a flurry of activity in bullish call options took place just minutes before Trump announced a pause of his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs. The trades prompted Democratic lawmakers to call for an insider-trading investigation. The White House dismissed their calls as "partisan games."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2026 10:32 ET (14:32 GMT)
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