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live Live: ASX set to rally as US shares surge on hopes of end to Iran war Wall Street ends a weak month with a massive gain, as investors eye a possible end to US military action in Iran. The ASX is set to follow with futures trade pointing to gains of at least 1.5 per cent. Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog. Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice. Submit a comment or question Live updates Market snapshot - ASX 200 futures: +1.5% to 8,643 points - Australian dollar: -0.1% to 68.96 US cents - S&P 500: +2.9% to 6,529 points - Nasdaq: +3.8% to 21,591 points - FTSE: +0.5% to 10,176 points - EuroStoxx: +0.4% to 583 points - Spot gold: +3.5% to $US4,670/ounce - Brent crude: +4.9% to $US118.31/barrel* - Iron ore: +0.7% to $US107.35/tonne - Bitcoin: -0.4% to $US67,921 * May contract. Prices current around 8:15am AEDT. 'What the' reaction Could i offer a suggestion to add another "Reaction" given some of the posts. I'd suggest a "What the?" :) - Vin Hi Vin, couldn't agree more. I could certainly use that reaction multiple times a day at the moment! I suspect we're far from alone...Loading 'Go get your own oil' Further to the previous posts, US President Donald Trump has advised America's "allies" to "go get your own oil", basically saying if they want the Strait of Hormuz open, they should go and do the job themselves. My Washington DC-based colleague Brad Ryan has this report. Energy traders less optimistic While US share traders were buying up big on hope, there wasn't a big move to dump oil. While Brent crude futures for May settled almost 5% higher at $US118.35 overnight, the contract for June was down around 3% to $US103.97. Nonetheless, even the decline for June was modest compared to the surge in stock prices on Wall Street. This clearly goes to reports that Donald Trump has indicated that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not a necessary condition to end the war. While share investors clung to hopes of an end to the war, as NAB's Rodrigo Catril notes, it is a resolution to the effective blockade of the Strait that is more important for the global economy. "The improvement in risk appetite over the past 24 hours was initially triggered by a WSJ report noting that President Trump had told aides he's willing to end the US military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed," Catril observes. "The market seemed to take this as a positive step however it is important to note that what matters is for the Strait of Hormuz to open again and for the flow of vessels in the Middle East to get back to where it was before the conflict." Wall St surges on hopes for an end to Iran war Good morning and welcome to the markets blog. It looks like another busy day, this time in a positive sense. As I write, the S&P 500 has just closed almost 3% higher, with the Nasdaq surging almost 4%. The catalyst for these massive gains, which come off the back of a month when the Nasdaq briefly entered a correction (down at least 10% from its recent peak)? Comments from both the US administration and the Iran president indicating that an end to the conflict may be close. Traders are clinging to any hope that this destructive war might end in the next few days, rather than drag on for weeks more. There is a large caveat from the US president that traders seem to have ignored, though — Donald Trump has hinted that the war might end with Iran still in effective control of the Strait of Hormuz. If that were the case, then oil supplies may still be restricted from pre-war levels and Iran may even charge tolls for ships to safely pass through. Join me and my colleagues to follow the action throughout the Australian trading day.Loading