Oil prices drop more than 10% and US stocks soar after Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices dropped more than 10% Friday, and U.S. stocks raced toward another record after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open again for commercial tankers carrying oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

The S&P 500 leaped 1.2% as Wall Street rallied to the finish of a third straight week of big gains, its longest streak since Halloween. A freer flow of oil would take pressure off prices not only for gasoline but also for groceries and all kinds of other products that get moved by vehicles. It could even ultimately help people pay less on credit-card interest or mortgage bills.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly climbed 1,139 points and was up 942 points, or 1.9%, as of 2:05 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher

The U.S. stock market has jumped more than 12% since hitting a bottom in late March on hopes the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy despite their war. Friday’s reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which may only be temporary, is the clearest signal yet for optimism, and President Donald Trump said late Thursday that the war “should be ending pretty soon.”

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude plunged immediately after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted on X that the passage for all commercial vessels through the strait “is declared completely open” as a ceasefire appears to be holding in Lebanon. He said it would stay open for the remaining period of the ceasefire, and U.S. oil tumbled 11.6% to $83.65 per barrel.

Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 9.2% to $90.25 per barrel. To be sure, it remains above its $70 price from before the war, indicating some caution is still embedded in financial markets.

Several times since the war began, optimism on Wall Street has quickly swung to doubt about a possible end to the fighting. That in turn has caused vicious and sudden swings of prices for everything from stocks to bonds to oil.

Minutes after the Iranian foreign minister’s announcement of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said on his social media network that the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports remains “in full force” until both sides reach a deal on the war. He, though, also said that “should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated” and emphasized it by using all capital letters.

Companies with big fuel bills soared to some of Wall Street’s biggest gains following the easing of oil prices.

United Airlines surged 7.1%. On Thursday, the head of the International Energy Agency had said that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so” of remaining jet fuel supplies.

Operators of cruise ships, which guzzle fuel, also steamed higher. Norwegian Cruise Line jumped 6.6%, and Royal Caribbean Group gained 8.6%.

Housing and auto-related companies also got some relief from the drop in oil prices.

With less threat of high inflation hurting the economy, a sustained drop in oil prices could convince the Federal Reserve to resume its cuts to interest rates to invigorate the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.25% from 4.32% late Thursday, and lower yields can bring down rates for mortgages and other loans going to U.S. households and businesses.

Builders FirstSource, a supplier of windows and other products, rose 6.2%, and homebuilder Lennar gained 5.1% on hopes that lower mortgage rates will spur more people to buy houses. Carvana climbed 6.9% because lower loan rates can get more customers into new autos.

A strong start to the earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies has also helped to support the U.S. stock market, and several more financial companies joined the list of companies delivering bigger profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.

State Street rose 4.1%, and Fifth Third Bancorp added 1.7% after both reported better results for the latest quarter than expected.

They helped offset a 10.2% slide for Netflix, which fell even though it likewise delivered a better profit than expected. It did not raise its forecast for revenue growth for the full year, which analysts said may have disappointed some investors.

It also said Reed Hastings, cofounder and chairman of the streaming company, will step down from its board of directors in June when his term expires.

In stock markets abroad, stock indexes leaped in Europe following Iran’s announcement about the Strait of Hormuz. France’s CAC 40 jumped 2%, and Germany’s DAX returned 2.3%.

In Asia, where trading finished for the day before the announcement, indexes were weaker. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.8%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9% for two of the bigger losses.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

PROVO, Utah (AP) — The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk wants a judge to ban cameras from the courtroom and says live broadcasts of the prosecution are violating his right to a fair trial.

Tyler Robinson was back in state court in Utah Friday as his attorneys asked to delay his May preliminary hearing and pressed their claims that biased coverage is tainting potential jurors in his aggravated murder case.

Among numerous examples cited was a New York Post story they say suggested Robinson confessed to Kirk's killing during a courtroom conversation on Dec. 11, in his first appearance after being charged. The conversation with his attorneys was inaudible, but the story cited a “lip reading analysis” to support its claim that Robinson said, “I think about the shooting daily.”

“The predominant purpose being served by the live stream coverage has not been the educational reporting of the court proceedings, but rather advertising profit, sensationalism, political agendas, and, most prominently, the vilification of Mr. Robinson,” his attorneys wrote in their request to bar cameras.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Robinson should he be convicted in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist, who was addressing a crowd of thousands on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.

Robinson, who turned 23 on Thursday, has not yet entered a plea. A trial date has not been set.

Media sensationalism around the case has cut both ways. In a March 30 headline, the U.K.-based Daily Mail reported the bullet that killed Kirk “did NOT match” a rifle allegedly used by Robinson. The story was based on an inconclusive, preliminary finding by ballistics experts and led to speculation about Robinson's possible exoneration. The FBI is running additional tests, according to court documents.

Media organizations, prosecutors and Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, want the court to allow cameras. They argue the best way to guard against the misinformation and conspiracy theories that concern Robinson's defense team is to make the process transparent.

Yet livestreaming by media outlets already has tested the patience of Judge Tony Graf.

During the December hearing, Graf temporarily stopped the livestream after it showed the defendant’s shackles in violation of a courtroom decorum order.

A January hearing was interrupted when Robinson's attorneys said close-up shots of Robinson being livestreamed by a local television station could again lead to claims based on lip reading. That, too, was a violation of Graf's decorum order. The judge ordered the camera operator not to film Robinson for the remainder of the hearing.

In recent hearings and again Friday, pool cameras for the media were stationed at the rear of the courtroom, behind Robinson. Graf also made camera operators come before him to acknowledge they understand the rules.

Mike Judd, a lawyer for a coalition of media organizations including The Associated Press that are fighting to preserve access, said Graf so far has focused on whether his rules inside the courtroom are being followed, not what the media is saying outside of court.

“The court can do all of that in order to try to control what gets fed into that media ecosystem,” Judd said. “You reduce the likelihood of somebody publishing things that you think may be of potentially biasing concern later on.”

Policies on cameras and livestreaming vary among states. Cameras are generally prohibited in federal courts.

“There's Supreme Court precedent that says courts generally need to be open to the public, but that's not an absolute right,” said University of Utah law professor Teneille Brown. “Even if they allow public access, that does not equal a right to broadcast or record.”

The preliminary hearing scheduled for May is for prosecutors to show they have enough evidence to proceed to trial. Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.

But the defense argued Friday it cannot move forward with the hearing until law enforcement agencies turn over more details about their DNA analysis of evidence.

Prosecutors responded that they have sufficient proof beyond DNA to tie Robinson to Kirk's killing. That includes surveillance video of Robinson near the university from the morning of the shooting wearing the same clothes as when he turned himself in. Robinson left a handwritten note for his romantic partner confessing to the crime before it happened, and also confessed to friends on the chatroom platform Discord, prosecutors said.

Rescheduling the preliminary hearing could delay the proceedings six months, Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride said.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” he added.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, and defense attorney Kathryn Nester attend a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Trent Nelson /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride attends a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Trent Nelson /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Defense attorney Richard Novak attends a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Trent Nelson /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Judge Tony Graf in 4th District Court presides over a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Trent Nelson /The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

FILE - Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, on Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - A well-wisher places flowers at a makeshift memorial set up for Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA headquarters, Sept. 11, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf speaks during a hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, in 4th District Court, March 13, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP, Pool, File)