Oil prices plunge after US pauses attacks on Iran
Oil prices plunged on Monday after the U.S. paused attacks on Iran over the weekend, opting against a major escalation of the war.
Global prices fell 9% on Monday, crossing below $90 a barrel and landing at about $88. The decline reversed a days-long run up in crude prices as fighting threatened to worsen a historic global oil shock.
Stock prices, meanwhile, were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 262 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 ticked up 0.02%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.1%.
Crude costs account for a large share of the price of auto gasoline. The average price of a gallon of gas currently stands at $4.11, according to AAA. Relief in oil prices typically brings down gas prices within days, some analysts previously told ABC News.
President Donald Trump has put off a major escalation with Iran in favor of an effort to revive diplomacy to open the Strait of Hormuz, two sources told ABC News.
Sources said top officials discussed the impact a major escalation could have on the Pentagon's depleting stockpiles of air defense interceptors, including Patriot anti-missile interceptors.
Oil prices have proven volatile in recent weeks. Last month, oil prices briefly fell to their lowest level since before the late February outbreak of the Iran war on news that a preliminary agreement to end the war had been reached.
A resumption of large-scale fighting between the U.S. and Iran, however, cast doubt over the staying power of that deal.
Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz declined sharply as the war escalated. The maritime trading route facilitates transport of about one-fifth of global oil supply. In turn, worldwide oil prices soared above $100 a barrel.
The prospects of diplomacy remain uncertain, despite a slowdown in fighting over recent days.
Amid the brief pause in the war between the U.S. and Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told journalists at his weekly press conference on Monday that Iran has "no negotiations with America."
"The negotiations that we have, and which may genuinely be subject to different interpretations, are the negotiations we have with Oman. They are focused on creating the necessary arrangements regarding the Strait of Hormuz," Baghaei added.
ABC News' Victoria Beaule and Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
