Oil prices climbed and stocks slid Tuesday as uncertainty reigned over US-Iranian peace talks resuming, and the expiration of the two-week ceasefire in the Middle East loomed.
Shortly after the US stock market closed, US President Donald Trump announced that he was extending the ceasefire, while keeping in place a military blockade on Iran's ports.
Investors had been hoping that despite hostile rhetoric there was scope for a deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas shipments.