Svmuu News: Approximately 6,200 futures contracts for Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, with a notional value of $580 million, traded in New York on Monday between 6:49 AM and 6:50 AM ET. About 15 minutes later, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that there had been "productive talks" with Iran recently.

Following the post at 7:04 AM, global energy markets experienced a sharp sell-off, while S&P 500 futures and European equities rose. Trading volumes for Brent and WTI futures simultaneously surged in the 27 seconds leading up to 6:50 AM, and S&P 500 futures prices also increased within seconds after the oil trades occurred. It is currently unclear whether a single entity or multiple entities were behind Monday's trades.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai stated that the White House does not condone any official using insider information for illegal profit, and called it irresponsible reporting to suggest officials were involved in such activities without evidence.

Several hedge funds noted multiple instances of large trades occurring in recent months just before official US government announcements. One hedge fund trader said that energy advisors have recently observed several block trades with unusual timing. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, subsequently denied on X that any negotiations had taken place between Washington and Tehran, leading to a pullback in global equities and renewed buying in energy markets. (Financial Times)