Iran’s Supreme Leader Authorizes Government to Negotiate; Stocks Rally, Oil Plunges

The market reaction is a textbook de-escalation trade: risk assets bid, oil sold hard, gold bid on residual hedging demand. What matters is that the authorization comes from the Supreme Leader, the one figure whose sign-off is necessary for any meaningful diplomatic track, so traders are pricing probability rather than a headline. The open question is whether talks actually convene and whether the crude selloff holds once the initial positioning unwinds. Gold's gain alongside equities suggests the move is not a clean risk-on signal.