U.S. stock futures rose on hopes of an end to hostilities in the Middle East

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) jumped 4% on Monday, climbing back to near $70,000, as broader markets signaled higher momentum after President Trump’s renewed threats regarding Iran and the possible opening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency also rose after Axios reported that U.S. and Iranian mediators are discussing terms for a possible 45-day ceasefire that could pave the way for a permanent end to the conflict.

Bitcoin has traded in a tight range over the past month, fluctuating between $63,000 and $73,000. In March, the token outperformed stocks and gold as the Iran war flared.

Noted tech bull Dan Ives started the week once again arguing that AI is the biggest trade of the year and that the software sell-off has gone too far.

From his Sunday night notes:

Investors came into 2026 looking for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates once or twice.

Those hopes have been dashed as the second quarter begins.

As Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schoenberger reported this weekend:

Read Jennifer’s full story here.

After a four-day trading week that both capped the end of the first quarter and saw markets reeling from last year’s “Liberation Day” surprise, the week ahead will bring investors key inflation readings and the start of the first-quarter earnings season.

The main economic data of the week comes on Friday with the March CPI report. The report will be the first major piece of economic data to pick up on the effects of the US-Iran war, which has sent oil prices soaring.

Economists expect headline inflation, which includes energy costs, to have risen 1% last month, up from a 0.3% increase in February.

Delta’s earnings will also provide color from an industry set to weather the negative effects of war on several fronts — energy costs, consumer confidence, and a possible decline in international travel. Those results are expected before markets open on Wednesday morning.

At around 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, President Trump repeated in an expletive post on Truth Social his threat to begin bombing Iranian domestic energy infrastructure and bridges across the country as a 10-day window for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped into one in Iran,” the president wrote. “Nothing like that will happen!!! F*****’ open straight, you crazy rooms, or you’ll live in hell – just watch! Praise be to Allah.”

A few hours later, President Trump posted on True Social, “Tuesday, 8:00 PM Eastern Time!” – A deadline looms for Iran to reopen the straits.

Fox News reported shortly after the president’s first Truth Social post that Trump told reporter Trey Yingst, “If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking the oil.”

Last Thursday, US forces destroyed a major bridge in Iran – one of the country’s major infrastructure projects – linking Tehran to the industrial hub of Karaj.

Fox News also reported Sunday that Trump said he would be able to strike a deal with Iran on Monday, before the president’s deadline expires on Tuesday.

Attacks by Iran against key energy infrastructure continued over the weekend, including strikes against Bahrain’s Bapco oil refinery and the headquarters of Kuwait’s state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Kuwait also reported attacks on several of the country’s power and desalination plants.

In a post to X on Saturday, an account close to Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf reportedly — a former IRGC general who has become a prominent voice within the Iranian regime — said that if Iran “does not receive a credible signal by tomorrow that Trump will reconsider the attack on Iran’s infrastructure, it will, by default, target large amounts of electricity and oil production in Saudi infrastructure, as well as the Israeli regime’s.”

“Iran has refrained from exercising this option to avoid entering into an ‘irreversible infrastructure war’ and ‘Ukrainization of the region,’ but this period of restraint will expire in the next 24 hours,” the account read.

At the same time, oil market watchers digested signs of a partial resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint.

On Sunday morning, Oman’s foreign ministry announced that its leaders had met with Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday and “discussed possible options to ensure the smooth flow of transit through the Strait of Hormuz amid the current situation in the region.”

Also on Saturday, Iran’s military leadership said Iraqi ships would be allowed to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, potentially bringing about 3 million barrels of oil per day back into the market.

The semi-official state-run Iranian Mehr news agency quoted the Iranian president’s office as saying, “The Strait of Hormuz will be opened after war damages are compensated by transit fee revenues.”

On Sunday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) agreed to raise its monthly production quota by 206,000 barrels per day in May, which the cartel’s member nations agreed to in April.