US Stock Markets Surge Sharply – Hope for Iran Deal Drives Wall Street Higher

Trump Announces Deal with Iran

The US president had declared that the US and Iran were close to finalizing a peace agreement and that all points of dispute had been fundamentally resolved. According to Trump, the agreement would include the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media, however, reported that Tehran had not yet made a final decision.

Oil Prices Drop Sharply

The prospect of a de-escalation was also reflected in the oil market. US crude WTI traded 1.1 percent lower at $86.76, while North Sea Brent fell 1.2 percent to $89.32 per barrel. According to market observers, Brent oil thus reached its lowest level in around two months. Traders also pointed to a lowered price forecast for 2027 of $80 per barrel, citing rising supply and weaker demand as China increasingly turns to electric vehicles.

Asian Stock Markets in Rally Mode

In Asia, investors also piled in aggressively. South Korea's Kospi exploded 8.3 percent to 8,407.89 points – a gain of 99.5 percent year-to-date. The two tech heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics rose 8.2 and 11.9 percent, respectively. Tokyo's broad Topix also rose 1.6 percent to 3,042.49 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 2.1 percent to 24,745.61 points.

In Shanghai, the Shanghai Composite climbed 1.6 percent to 4,049.29 points. China's blue-chip CSI300 index also gained one percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.8 percent at 8,791.60 points, while Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.4 percent to 5,009.23 points. The Indonesian stock market (IDX Composite) gained 2.6 percent to 6,036.41 points, although it remains 30.2 percent in the red on a year-on-year basis.

Germany's benchmark DAX had risen slightly on Thursday to 24,209 points despite the European Central Bank's interest rate hike. For trading on Friday, traders expected a start more than 1.5 percent higher. Sentiment in European markets thus followed the recovery overseas.

On the currency market, the euro traded slightly weaker against the US dollar at 1.1570. The US dollar stood at 160.24 against the Japanese yen, while gold fell 0.5 percent to $4,193.49. Silver dropped 0.4 percent to $67.06, while platinum rose 0.6 percent to $1,729.44. Bitcoin traded at $63,460.56.

SpaceX: The Biggest IPO in History

Alongside the geopolitical developments, the US stock market was also marked by the largest IPO in history. SpaceX placed 555,555,555 shares at a price of $135, raising $75 billion. The company's valuation after the IPO stands at approximately $1.77 trillion. Almost a quarter of a century after SpaceX was founded, Musk could thus become a billionaire turning into a multi-billionaire, it was said. The SpaceX share was to be traded for the first time on the day of the IPO at the New York Stock Exchange, which opens at 3:30 PM CET.

Musk had previously announced plans to raise up to $86 billion with the IPO – by far the largest stock market flotation in the world to date. Overall, the group is reportedly worth nearly $1.8 trillion. Industry observers viewed the move as a milestone for the entire space industry and a signal of confidence in the US capital market.

Single Stocks: Alibaba and Woodside in Focus

At the single-stock level, Alibaba shares stood out positively in Hong Kong with a gain of 3.0 percent following the heavy previous-day loss. According to Bloomberg, Alibaba plans to acquire the Chinese food retailer Pupu for $1.5 billion to strengthen its presence in the online grocery market.

In Sydney, shares in Woodside Energy fell 1.7 percent. The Australian energy company had announced that it had exercised a right of first refusal to acquire a roughly eleven-percent stake from PetroChina in the Browse gas fields off the coast of Western Australia, thereby preventing a sale to Japan's Inpex. Inpex shares subsequently lost 0.9 percent, while PetroChina gained 0.4 percent.

Traders were overall confident that the positive impulses from the Middle East and the space industry could continue to support the markets in the coming trading days. "If we hear something from Iran that sounds positive, the odds will clearly turn dramatically," it was said from the trading floor. At the same time, some observers warned of possible setbacks should the diplomatic talks fail.

For Julian Emanuel of US research firm Evercore, it remains to be seen how sustainable the optimism is. He pointed out that although the biggest daily gains since early April were a clear signal from investors, fundamental risks in the background remained. The report was written by Steffen Gosenheimer of Dow Jones and published on June 12, 2026 at 12:22 AM Eastern Time (04:22 GMT) via Dow Jones Newswires.