Investing.com — Most Middle Eastern stock markets that were open on Sunday ended higher, as hopes for a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran surged after President Donald Trump said a memorandum of understanding had been “largely negotiated.”
Benchmark stock indexes in Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar gained across the board.
Trump on Sunday said he had instructed U.S. negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran and that both sides “must take their time and get it right.”
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, media reports on Saturday and Sunday laid out some details of the agreement.
Reuters said that Tehran had not agreed to transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium outside the country, citing a senior Iranian official. The official added that nuclear-related issues were excluded from the preliminary understanding reached with Washington.
Axios on Saturday reported that the agreement would extend the current ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, and allow Iran to resume unrestricted oil exports, citing a U.S. official. The strait would remain open during the 60 days, and vessels would be allowed the transit the vital waterway without tolls. Iran would also remove mines it previously deployed in the strait to restore normal shipping traffic.
In return, the U.S. would lift its blockade of Iranian ports and grant sanctions waivers that would allow Tehran to sell oil on international markets, the report said.
“We are ready to assure the world that we are not seeking nuclear weapons, Iran is not looking for unrest in the region,” Iranian state media said on Sunday, quoting the country’s president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Reuters also reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump that Israel would remain free to act against threats in Lebanon during a phone call about the agreement between Washington and Iran on Saturday, citing an Israeli source.
See below for a breakdown of Sunday’s Gulf market movements:
Egypt – +1.5%, +1.3%, +1%, +1.2%.
Jordan – +1.6%, +2.2%.
Qatar – +3.2%, +3.1%.