Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday, falling to their lowest levels since early March, after the U.S. and Iran announced they had reached a preliminary deal to end the war.
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, fell by nearly 4 percent, crossing below $80 a barrel for the first time since the earliest days of the war. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, dropped 4.5 percent to around $77 a barrel.
Stock markets rallied around the world. All the major European indexes were up for the day. Stocks were also up in Australia, Japan, South Korea, and India. China’s Shanghai index, however, was down for the day, as was Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index.
Stocks in the U.S. were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.74 percent, while the S&P 500 was down 0.23 percent and the Nasdaq Composite lost around half a point.