Stocks surge and oil prices plunge after Iran says Strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’ during Israel-Lebanon ceasefire
: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on April 17, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks surged and oil prices plunged in early trading on Friday after a senior Iranian official declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for commercial traffic for the duration of the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1,005 points, or 2%, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 1.5%.
In a post on X on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said: “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.”
President Donald Trump appeared to confirm the reopening of the strait in a message posted on social media on Friday morning.
“IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE,” Trump said.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the benchmark index for U.S. oil prices, plunged more than 10%, registering at about $83 a barrel. The reading marked the index’s lowest level since mid-March.
Even so, U.S. oil prices remain about 30% higher than pre-war levels.
The U.S.-Israeli war prompted Iran’s effective closure of the strait, a critical waterway that facilitates the transport of 20 million barrels of oil per day, or about one-fifth of the global supply.
The move set off the “most severe oil supply shock in history,” the International Energy Agency said in a report this week. Oil prices notched their largest one-month rise ever in March, the Paris-based group said.
Gasoline prices in the U.S. registered at $4.07 on average per gallon on Friday, standing more than 30% higher than before the war, AAA data showed.
A ”For Sale” sign is outside a residential home in Oro Valley, Ariz., Dec.12, 2025. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since September as fallout from the Iran war ripples through financial markets, Freddie Mac data on Thursday showed.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.46%, continuing a weeks-long surge since the war began on Feb. 28, during which time mortgage rates have increased nearly half a percentage point.
Mortgage rates remain slightly lower than this time a year ago, when the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 6.64%.
The recent spike in borrowing costs risks further strain on U.S. households as they weather elevated gasoline prices.
The rise in mortgage rates owes to a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as investors fear a bout of inflation in response to the Middle East conflict.
High bond yields make borrowing more expensive for average Americans, since 10-year Treasury rates influence the rates offered for a variety of loans, including mortgages and credit cards.
Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher consumer prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, meaning the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.31%, about 0.35 percentage points higher than pre-war levels.
“Mortgage rates have risen as bond market yields have sought to price in the risk of higher inflation in the future,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, previously told ABC News.
Last week, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.
Bond yields eased in recent days as Trump signaled a possible off-ramp from the war with Iran.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to the Los Angeles Superior Court at United States Court House on February 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Jill Connelly/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — A landmark trial over social media addiction has drawn fresh scrutiny to a decades-old legal shield: Section 230.
The case, which began last Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, centers on claims against Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — and YouTube, which is owned by Google. Plaintiffs argue the companies knowingly built features that encouraged compulsive use among young users, contributing to long-term mental health harm.
The case is the first of more than 1,500 similar lawsuits nationwide to go before a jury, potentially setting a precedent for how tech companies could be held liable for product design. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying in the case on Wednesday.
The companies deny the allegations, arguing that mental health outcomes are shaped by a range of factors beyond social media use. They say they have implemented safeguards aimed at protecting young users, including parental controls and accounts designed specifically for teens.
In a statement to ABC News at the start of the trial, a Meta spokesperson said, “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”
Meta said that the company has made “meaningful changes” to its services, such as introducing accounts specifically for teenage users.
The tech giants are expected to challenge the plaintiff’s argument that there is a direct link between social media use and mental health issues. They may also invoke legal protection long-afforded by Section 230.
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act protects social media platforms and other sites from legal liability that could result from content posted by users because they are not deemed to be publishers.
Plaintiffs have sought to circumvent that legal immunity in part by arguing that the platforms are addictive, which amounts to a defect in a product.
Section 230 grants broad protection for internet platforms, saying: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
Some tech giants, like Meta and Google, have supported reform of Section 230 that would raise the standard that platforms would need to meet in order to qualify for immunity. But the companies largely support preserving the law in some form to protect them from legal liability tied to user-generated content.
Section 230 has garnered backing from some free-speech advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The measure “protects internet users’ speech by protecting the online intermediaries we rely on,” EFF said in a blog post last week, praising Section 230 as “the legal support that sustains the internet as we know it.”
In 2023, the Supreme Court issued a pair of rulings that upheld Section 230, rejecting challenges from users alleging that harm had resulted from online posts.
One of the cases, Gonzalez v. Google LLC, concerned a lawsuit brought by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, an American woman who was killed in an ISIS terrorist attack in Paris in 2015. The lawsuit against Google, the parent company of YouTube, alleged that YouTube recommended ISIS recruitment videos to users. The high court ruled against the plaintiffs.
Many Democrats argue that Section 230 allows platforms to evade accountability for allegedly permitting harmful or misleading content, claiming the rule lets platforms off the hook for policing too little speech.
Republicans have taken issue with what they consider big tech censorship, saying the legal protection allows the platforms to police too much speech without facing consequences.
In December, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced the Sunset Section 230 Act, which would remove the legal protection from federal law within two years. A bipartisan group of seven senators has signed onto the bill but it remains well short of a majority.
ABC News’ Shafiq Najib contributed to this report.
Shoppers at the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, CA on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Holiday shopping season sets forth an annual gut check for the U.S. economy, prompting buyers to splurge in a show of optimism or cut back out of fear of what next year holds.
In 2025, shoppers opened their wallets with gusto, though consumers appeared to favor low-cost options and discounts, according to spending data shared with ABC News.
The performance defied concerns overhanging the economy for months, as hiring slowed and inflation ticked higher. Seemingly undeterred, shoppers flexed their strength at the close of this year, offering some reassurance for the wider economy. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
Holiday sales climbed 3.9% compared to last year, Mastercard SpendingPulse data showed, tracking online and in-store payments from the start of November to Christmas Eve. The data leaves out car sales and does not account for inflation.
The season-long buying spree followed a strong showing early on, as consumers revved up at the outset of the holiday season.
Digital spending on Thanksgiving jumped 5% from a year earlier, totaling $6.4 billion and exceeding expectations, Adobe Analytics data showed. On Black Friday, shoppers topped the previous day’s pace, as spending soared about 9% compared to 2024, adding up to $11.8 billion, Adobe found.
Adobe attributed the strong performance to better-than-anticipated discounts, especially for electronics. Discounts also touched an array of products from furniture to appliances to toys.
The search for price-savings marked a trend that would continue over the coming weeks.
While overall spending jumped, the largest uptick could be found in low-cost categories, according to Placer.ai, a data firm.
For instance, thrift shops and off-price retailers topped the apparel market with traffic up 11.7% and 6.6% respectively, compared to last year, Placer.ai said. Luxury chains and department stores, by comparison, posted meager gains of 1.8%, the data showed.
“Bifurcation has been a defining trend of consumer behavior in 2025 and continued to shape shopping patterns during the holiday season,” said Shira Petrack, head of content at Placer.ai.
Consumer spending among middle- and low-income Americans slowed earlier this year, triggering warnings from restaurant giants such as McDonald’s and Chipotle. A report this month showed consumer sentiment has fallen to its lowest point since a peak of pandemic-era inflation in 2022, University of Michigan data showed.
As of October, roughly half of buyers planned to use a by-now-pay-later plan for holiday shopping as a means of managing their budget, PayPal said.
Still, consumers have continued to power economic growth, even as they have balked at prices.
In the fall, shoppers helped propel the fastest quarterly U.S. economic growth in two years, federal government data last week showed.
The economy grew at a robust annualized rate of 4.3% in the third quarter in the government’s initial estimate, marking an acceleration from 3.8% growth recorded in the previous quarter, the U.S. Commerce Department said.
“Just as they have for several years now, the U.S. consumer continues to carry the baton for the economy,” Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro, told ABC News in a statement.
