US stock markets posted strong gains on Monday. By the close in New York, the Dow finished at 51,671 points, marking a 0.9 percent increase from the previous trading day. Moments earlier, the broader S&P 500 was up 1.7 percent, reaching around 7,555 points, while the Nasdaq 100, the technology index, rose an impressive 3.1 percent to approximately 30,545 points.
The positive sentiment on Wall Street was largely attributed to the announced agreement between the US and Iran. While further details still require negotiation, the prospect of the Strait of Hormuz reopening on Friday sparked optimism. Traders also expect this potential easing of tensions in energy markets to reduce pressure on the US Federal Reserve regarding its interest rate policy.
In global commodity and currency movements, gold saw significant increases, with fine ounces trading at $4,319 by the evening (+2.4 percent), equivalent to 119.85 euros per gram. Conversely, the price of oil dropped sharply. A barrel of North Sea Brent crude cost $83.75 around 10 PM German time on Monday, which represented a decrease of 4.1 percent-equivalent to 358 cents-compared to the close of the previous trading day.
Meanwhile, the European common currency showed some weakness Monday evening: the Euro traded at $1.1587, meaning a dollar fetched 0.8630 euros.
