Stocks Are Held Hostage By Treasury Yields as Markets Count Down to Trump’s Iran Deadline

Wall Street returned to oil-watch duties on Thursday, with another increase in crude prices weighing on stocks and triggering a jump in Treasury bond yields, as hopes of productive cease-fire talks between the U.S. and Iran dimmed ahead of President Donald Trump’s deadline. The has managed, however, to book a solid 1.25% gain for the week heading into the Thursday session—thanks largely to signals from the White House that the U.S. is looking for an exit ramp to the four-week old war with Iran—but remains nearly 5% lower on the month and still looks fragile heading into the final days of the first quarter. Iran has acknowledged a U.S. overture for talks, including a 15-point plan that would allow for a one-month cease-fire and the resumption of energy traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, but has rejected both the premise and the details.