Trump guarantees maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz: Markets U-turn on Navy escort pledge

Markets just took a massive U-turn following a critical address from President Trump.

The US President delivered a lengthy morning speech from the White House, providing further details on the ongoing military operations in Iran.

The core message centered on preemptive defense, with the President stating he "felt strongly that Iran was going to attack first," justifying the administration's recent escalations to secure American interests in the region – He noted a significant progress in operations, which initially stalled the Petrodollar panic move in Markets.

However, what truly helped markets shed their persistent morning anxiety was an early afternoon post from the President on Truth Social.

Trump announced a pledge to establish a major security framework to protect commercial shipping routes across the Arabian Sea, with a specific focus on the highly vulnerable Strait of Hormuz.

The immediate reaction in the commodities space was swift.

Oil prices violently retreated by nearly 7% shortly after the announcement before mean-reverting higher.

With WTI currently hovering right around Monday's gap-up levels, broader market sentiment is still looking significantly smoother than it was at the opening bell.

The technical and fundamental picture looks vastly different now compared to the early hours of the session. Let's break down exactly what changed.

Discover:

• The War-Petrodollar trade extends – Oil jumps, Dollar to 2026 highs
• Gold’s (XAU/USD) $5000 Retest: Rate cut fears and dollar surge lead to 5% selloff
• Stocks get caught in the crossfire – Dow Jones & US Index Outlook
• Is Bitcoin's (BTC/USD) second $70k rejection a “buy the dip” opportunity?

Financial Markets are getting rocked from the latest developments, but reactions have remained relatively contained.

Oil has been subject to aggressive movement in today's session particularly.

After initially exploding back to its June 2025 highs in a move that left other assets in the dust, crude eased its progress throughout the North American morning session.

What followed however was a significant sweep lower.

Knowing that Oil and Strait of Hormuz dynamics were the main contributors to Market panic, it isn't surprising to see such movement and easing in Sentiment.

Metals however remain much lower, as Market security leads to further profit-taking in the safe-havens

Gold and Silver both eased significantly in today's session. They attempted a move higher but this hasn't materialized yet.

The US Dollar also eased quite significantly after the comments – It relates overall to an over-extended move, which actually did retrace all the way to the 99.00 as forecasted in our morning Dollar Index analysis!

It wouldn't be surprising to see a Dollar rebound around here – However, it seems that momentum towards the end-afternoon is heavily slowing.

Tomorrow's session should bring further clarity there.

The better sentiment was demarcated particularly well in US Stock Benchmarks which saw a fresh buying wave in the final hour.

They have been very unpredictable – But that's the way Markets are in these types of environments.

The rally in the Dow has been nothing short of impressive.

Nasdaq and S&P 500 both saw similar rises – However, US Indexes are now back to their relative resistance levels – The DJIA is actually testing the highs of its downward channel!

Extending higher from there would imply a better risk-sentiment ahead. Failing to do would provide a sweet spot for profit-taking.

Safe Trades and keep track of the evolution of the conflict ahead!

Follow Elior on Twitter/X for additional Market News, Insights and Interactions @EliorManier