FT: Traders bet $580 million in oil market 15 minutes before Trump posts on Iran negotiations

Odaily Planet Daily News: From 6:49 to 6:50 a.m. New York time on Monday, approximately 6,200 Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate futures contracts were traded, with a nominal value of $580 million. About 15 minutes later, U.S. President Trump posted on Truth Social stating that he had recently engaged in “productive dialogue” with Iran.

After the post was published at 7:04 a.m., there was a significant sell-off in the global energy markets, while the S&P 500 futures and European stock markets rose. Trading volume for Brent crude and WTI futures surged simultaneously at 6:50:27 a.m., and S&P 500 futures prices also increased within seconds after the oil trading occurred. It is currently unclear whether a single entity or multiple entities were behind Monday’s trading.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai stated that the White House does not tolerate any officials profiting illegally from insider information, and called it irresponsible reporting to suggest officials were involved in such activities without evidence.

Several hedge funds pointed out that there have been multiple cases in recent months of large trades occurring before official U.S. government announcements. One hedge fund trader said that energy consultants have recently noticed several large transactions at unusual times. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf later denied on X platform that Washington had engaged in any negotiations with Tehran, causing global stock markets to retreat and energy markets to buy again. (Financial Times)