BENGALURU (March 23): The main US indices were on track to open higher on Monday after US President Donald Trump said he would order the military to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure following "productive conversations" with Tehran. Still, global markets staged a sharp recovery after Trump's comments, with Europe's STOXX 600 and precious metals turning positive, while oil prices fell, signalling improving risk appetite. Markets had been trading lower after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tehran would attack Israel's power plants and plants supplying US bases in the Gulf if Trump carried out his threat to "obliterate" Iran's power network. Investors trimmed bets on interest-rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) after Trump's comments, and they now stand at 20% in December, compared with more than 50% before, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool. Wall Street's main indices hadlogged their fourth week of declines last Friday, with the Nasdaq posting its biggest weekly drop since early February.

Source: The Edge Markets March 23, 2026 12:46 UTC