Traders executed about $580 million in oil futures trades on Monday in a narrow window roughly 15 minutes before a Truth Social message from President Donald Trump referenced productive conversations with Tehran, according to a Financial Times report that cites Bloomberg data.
The FT estimated that around 6,200 contracts tied to Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) changed hands between 6:49 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. New York time. Those trades occurred approximately 15 minutes before a 7:04 a.m. post on Truth Social in which the president said there had been "productive conversations" with Iran aimed at ending the war in Iran.
In the seconds leading up to 6:50 a.m., trading volumes for both Brent and WTI futures climbed, the report noted. Futures tracking the S&P 500 index then rose in price moments after the oil trades, with volumes in those contracts also increasing during the same brief interval. It was not determined whether a single participant or multiple entities were responsible for the oil futures activity on Monday.
The Truth Social post set off a marked reaction across markets: energy prices fell and equity futures pushed higher. WTI crude futures were trading near $89.50 around 6:00 p.m. New York time on Monday, down from levels above $98 immediately before the president's post. The S&P 500 index finished the day up 1.05%.
Later in the day, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, posted on X denying that negotiations between Washington and Tehran had taken place. That statement directly contradicted the claim made in the Truth Social message and underscored the conflicting signals circulating in markets after the trades and the social media post.
The timing and size of the oil futures transactions - roughly $580 million across some 6,200 Brent and WTI contracts - and the subsequent market moves underscore how quickly liquidity and prices can shift around headline developments. While the FT based its estimate on Bloomberg data, the report did not identify the trader or traders behind the block of contracts exchanged in that one-minute window.
Context and immediacy
The series of events on Monday comprised a compact timeline: a surge in oil futures volumes shortly before 6:50 a.m., a Truth Social post at 7:04 a.m. referencing productive talks with Tehran, a sharp re-pricing in energy markets, gains in S&P 500 futures and European equities, and a denial from an Iranian parliamentary official later in the day.