Futures fall and oil prices jump. The U.S. Navy will blockade Iranian ports starting Monday after Iran talks ended with no deal.

Oil futures were lower, with WTI and Brent down down 16% and 15%, though the flow of tankers will take time and doubts remain about the shape of a final peace agreement.

LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Investors placed an approximately $950 million bet on oil prices falling just hours before the U.S. and Iran announced a ceasefire, the latest large wager on the direction of the world's most traded commodity ahead of a major policy ​announcement by President Donald Trump.

Hyperliquid traders faced sizable liquidations as benchmark oil prices plunged on Wednesday, second only to Bitcoin on a notional basis.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren is asking the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to investigate “unusual trading patterns” in oil futures that took place immediately preceding Trump administration announcements of a potential ceasefire in the Iran war.

The timing of the earlier volume spikes — across both equities and crude — caught the attention of traders.

Crude oil futures are in record backwardation, with December 2028 contracts $33 below the front month, creating unique trading opportunities. Read the full analysis here.

VICTORIA, Seychelles, March 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MEXC, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, has reported a sharp increase in trading activity for oil derivatives on its platform, driven by heightened volatility in global crude oil markets.

About 90 minutes before the deadline he set, Trump paved the way for a major relief rally in markets, with the Dow up 1,200 points on Wednesday.

Oil futures trading increased in the minutes before Trump announced on March 23 that he would delay strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure. Trump had previously threatened to attack within 48 hours unless Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil tankers.

In a post made to social media early April 12, Trump said the U.S. will blockade the shipping route, marking an escalation in the more than six-week-long war.