Commodities

Futures Markets Saw Trading Spike Before Trump’s Iran Post

Oil, Stock Futures Trading Spike Before Trump’s Iran Post Questioned

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By Yongchang Chin, Dan Murtaugh, and Jan-Patrick Barnert

March 24, 2026 at 5:02 AM UTC

Updated on

March 24, 2026 at 11:05 AM UTC

Futures for oil and stocks worth billions of dollars changed hands just 15 minutes before a social media post from US President Donald Trump sent crude prices tumbling and equities soaring.

Contracts corresponding to at least 6 million barrels of Brent and West Texas Intermediate were sold in the two minutes from 6:49 a.m. in New York on Monday, according to exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. The average for the same time period over the previous five trading days was about 700 lots — or 700,000 barrels. Trump’s Truth Social post was published at around 7:05 a.m.