The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% and is just 0.1% below its record set earlier this summer. It's coming off a wild July, where it swung up and down as oil prices shot higher because of the war with Iran and other worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 649 points, or 1.2%, as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.2% higher.
Stocks got a lift as the price for a barrel of Brent crude sank 5% to $83.52. It dropped after President Trump said over the weekend that he decided to hold off on new strikes against Iran at the urging of allies in the region.
Brent's price careened between $72 and $102 last month as worries rose and fell about when the war with Iran would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude to customers worldwide.
