US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages” in an address to the nation, while adding the war would be over within three weeks.
The apparently contradictory statements did not reassure investors — oil prices jumped and stocks fell after his speech. One India-focused fund manager argued in a post that Trump’s head-spinning remarks had driven him to instead consider underlying indicators, including ship-insurance premiums, the differential between benchmark crude and certain contracts’ pricing, and the number of vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz: “Everything else is noise.”
The US energy secretary followed Trump’s address by saying the disruption to markets was “temporary,” but US consumers have seen prices at the pump rise 37% already.