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Tuesday, March 24, 2026
What’s happening: US stocks settled higher on Monday following fresh comments from President Donald Trump.
What happened: All three major stock indices gained more than 1% after Trump announced to postpone his plans to strike Iran’s power plants following “productive talks”.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker said no recent talks had been held between Tehran and Washington.
Why it matters: US stock indices ended last week in the red, following rising tensions in the Middle East and ultimatums to strike Iran’s power plants. The indices rebounded on Monday after President Donald Trump said talks had been held between the US and Iran.
Trump said he has ordered the military to hold off strikes against Iran’s power and energy plants for five days after “productive talks” with Tehran and that an agreement would be announced soon. Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker called this “fake news”, saying no conversations had taken place with the US.
Trump had been threatening to strike Iran’s power plants within 48 hours in case it does not open the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, the US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged, citing higher inflation due to the impact of the war. Investors lowered their speculations of a rate cut this year, while some expect the Fed to hike rates to control inflation.
All three major Wall Street indices recorded their strongest single-session percentage gains since February 6 after crude prices fell more than 10% on Monday.
The Dow Jones index jumped 631 points, or 1.38%, to close at 46,208.47, while the S&P 500 surged 1.15% to settle at 6,581.00. The Nasdaq 100 gained 1.22% to close at 24,188.59.
Consumer discretionary and materials stocks recorded the biggest gains, while defensive sectors like healthcare and consumer staples rose to a lesser extent.
Airline stocks, which had been under pressure due to rising oil prices, registered sharp gains. Shares of Alaska Air, United Airlines and American Airlines settled higher on Monday. Shares of cruise operators also rallied during the session.
What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on comments by the US and Iran related to the ongoing Middle East war.
Markets also await comments from Fed members, readings on business activity surveys and consumer sentiment from the US this week.
Data on nonfarm productivity (1630 UAE Time), unit labour costs (1630 UAE Time) and S&P Global composite PMI (1745 UAE Time) will be released today. Analysts expect labour productivity in the nonfarm business sector to grow by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, easing from a 5.2% surge in the previous quarter, while unit labour costs are expected to rise by 2.8%, following a 1.8% decline in the third quarter.
Context: The Japanese yen fell against the US dollar this morning as investors digested the latest economic reports.
Details: Data released this morning showed that Japan’s S&P Global services PMI declined to 52.8 in March, from 53.8 in the previous month. The latest reading was the weakest since December 2025, amid concerns around the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Japan’s manufacturing PMI declined to 51.4 in March, from a four-year high of 53.0 in the previous month. The figure also missed market estimates of 52.8. The S&P Global composite PMI fell to 52.9 in March, from 53.9 in February. Although Japan’s private sector activity expanded for the 12th consecutive month, the latest reading was the weakest since December last year.
Japan’s annual inflation slowed to 1.3% in February from 1.5% in the previous month. This marked the lowest rate since March 2022. Food inflation growth remained near 15-month lows, rising 4.0% year-over-year in February, slightly higher than the previous month’s 3.9%.
Strength in the US dollar also weighed on the Japanese yen this morning. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, gained more than 0.2% to 99.36.
The USD/JPY pair rose more than 0.1% to 158.65 this morning, while the Nikkei 225 surged 0.77% to 51,910.42.
What to watch: Investors await the release of minutes from the Bank of Japan’s recent monetary policy meeting (0350 UAE Time) today. The BoJ kept its key short-term rate unchanged at 0.75% at its recent meeting, leaving borrowing costs at their highest level since September 1995.
Other Markets: European indices closed mostly higher on Monday, with DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 index up by 1.22%, 0.79% and 0.61%, respectively, and the FTSE 100 down by 0.24%.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was looking to open control stations for long-range drones in Belarus. The news sent the USD/RUB pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Australia’s S&P Global manufacturing PMI declined to 50.1 in March from 51.0 in the previous month, exerting pressure on the AUD/USD forex pair.
South Korea’s producer prices surged 2.4% year-over-year in February. This being the strongest rise since July 2024 sent the USD/KRW pair higher in forex trading this morning.
Eurozone’s consumer confidence fell by 4 points to -16.3 in March. This being the weakest reading since October 2023 and falling short of market estimates of -14.4 exerted pressure on the EUR/USD forex pair.
Mexico’s retail sales surged 5.0% year-over-year in January, accelerating from 4.3% in the previous month. However, the USD/MXN pair rose in forex trading this morning.
South Africa’s consumer confidence (1200 UAE Time), France’s HCOB composite PMI (1215 UAE Time), HCOB manufacturing PMI (1215 UAE Time) and HCOB services PMI (1215 UAE Time), Germany’s HCOB manufacturing PMI (1230 UAE Time), HCOB composite PMI (1230 UAE Time), and HCOB services PMI (1230 UAE Time), Eurozone’s HCOB composite PMI (1300 UAE Time), HCOB manufacturing PMI (1300 UAE Time) and HCOB services PMI (1300 UAE Time), UK’s S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1330 UAE Time), S&P Global services PMI (1330 UAE Time), S&P Global composite PMI (1330 UAE Time), and CBI distributive trades (1500 UAE Time), Brazil’s Central Bank Copom meeting minutes (1500 UAE Time), Canada’s CFIB business barometer (1500 UAE Time) and manufacturing sales (1630 UAE Time), US ADP employment change weekly (1615 UAE Time), Redbook index (1655 UAE Time), S&P Global manufacturing PMI (1745 UAE Time), S&P Global services PMI (1745 UAE Time), Richmond Fed manufacturing index (1800 UAE Time), and money supply (2100 UAE Time), as well as Mexico’s economic activity (1600 UAE Time) and mid-month inflation rate (1600 UAE Time).
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