As U.S. stock markets faced their most severe sell-off in months over concerns of escalating conflict in the Middle East, U.S. President Trump announced just 11 minutes after Thursday's close that he would extend the deadline for striking Iranian energy facilities by 10 days to allow more room for ceasefire negotiations.According to reports from Xinhua News Agency and CCTV News, Trump posted on social media on Thursday the 26th, stating that at the request of the Iranian government, the airstrikes on Iranian energy facilities would be postponed by another ten days until 8:00 PM ET on April 6.CCTV reported that Trump emphasized that despite false contrary statements from the &#34;fake news media&#34; and others, bilateral negotiations are ongoing and &#34;progressing very smoothly.&#34;Financial markets reacted swiftly to this latest statement. The dollar index rapidly expanded its gains after-hours, briefly touching the 100.00 mark for the first time in three days. Simultaneously, U.S. crude oil prices, which had risen significantly during the day, plummeted in the short term, further intensifying intraday volatility.Prior to this, Wall Street had just experienced its most turbulent trading day since the outbreak of the Middle East crisis, with both stock and bond markets under pressure. Traders were losing patience with Trump's contradictory signals regarding Iran, while surging oil prices fueled intense inflation concerns.<h2>Inflation Concerns Hit Stocks and Bonds Hard</h2>Before Trump's post-market post, the three major U.S. stock indices all closed significantly lower on Thursday. The benchmark S&amp;P 500 fell 1.7%, marking its largest single-day decline since January 20 and dropping to a six-month low. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index fell 2.4%, retreating more than 10% from its late October high and entering &#34;technical correction&#34; territory.The bond market also suffered a heavy blow. Late Thursday in New York, the benchmark 10-Year Treasury Yield rose 7.95 basis points to 4.4117%. The 2-year Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to interest rates, jumped 10.05 basis points to 3.9858%, marking a cumulative surge of over 0.6 percentage points in the past month—its worst performance since September 2022. Weak demand for three consecutive U.S. Treasury auctions this week, totaling $183 billion, with winning yields higher than market levels, further highlighted investor fatigue.As the Middle East conflict disrupted crude supplies, Brent crude closed up 5.7% at $108.01 per barrel on Thursday, its largest single-day gain since March 11; U.S. WTI crude climbed 4.6% to $94.48. The surge in crude prices prompted investors to reassess the Federal Reserve's policy path, with the market not only abandoning bets on rate cuts this year but even starting to price in rate hike expectations. The OECD warned on Thursday that the Middle East crisis would push the U.S. inflation rate to soar to 4.2% this year, the highest among the G7 nations.<h2>Invisible Ceilings for Oil and U.S. Treasuries</h2>Amid oil price volatility, Wall Street is attempting to find patterns in the policy swings of the Trump administration.Many observers have noticed that whenever energy prices or borrowing costs reach specific thresholds, the White House's rhetoric shifts toward de-escalation—referred to as Trump's &#34;TACO moment&#34; (short for Trump Always Chickens Out).As Wallstreetcn previously mentioned, according to observations by veteran energy traders, whenever U.S. crude oil prices approach $95 to $100 per barrel, the White House's cooling rhetoric significantly intensifies, and market expectations of government intervention rise. Jorge Montepeque, an oil market analyst at Onyx Capital Group, pointed out that gasoline prices exceeding $4 per gallon are politically lethal, and Trump is clearly concerned about high oil prices.The U.S. Treasury yield is another red line that triggers cooling. Monica Defend, head of the Amundi Investment Institute, stated that Trump has become extremely sensitive to Treasury yields in his second term. &#34;Whenever the 10-Year Treasury Yield approaches 4.5%, the government gets truly nervous, and that is usually when they take action.&#34; To this end, Maximilian Uleer, head of strategy at Deutsche Bank, has constructed a &#34;stress index&#34; that combines indicators such as inflation expectations and Treasury yields to predict the points at which the White House might adjust its strategy.<h2>Extreme Uncertainty Intertwined with War and Negotiations</h2>This is the second time Trump has extended the deadline for striking Iranian facilities since he first issued the threat on March 21. This past Monday, he postponed the deadline to Friday, citing &#34;productive&#34; dialogue. Earlier on Thursday, he had already hinted at the deadline's flexibility during a White House cabinet meeting, stating that it might only be strictly enforced if envoys like Steve Witkoff reported that negotiations were not going well.The White House is frequently switching between diplomatic efforts and military deterrence. On one hand, Trump has directed senior officials such as JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner to mediate a 15-point peace plan through third parties; on the other hand, the Pentagon has ordered the deployment of approximately 10,000 elite U.S. troops and five warships to the Middle East. Iran has denied direct negotiations but confirmed it is in contact with third countries.Regarding the sharp market reaction, Steven Grey, Chief Investment Officer at Grey Value Management, believes it is not irrational behavior.&#34;The market is not becoming neurotic; this is the normal behavior of an efficient market facing extreme uncertainty,&#34; he stated. &#34;People are turning around at an incredible speed, or simply choosing to wait and see. The market's confusion is entirely rational.&#34;Currently, many Wall Street institutions are choosing to remain on the sidelines to avoid being caught off guard by the White House's next social media post.

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Eleven minutes after US stocks recorded their largest single-day drop in months, Trump announced a 10-day extension to the deadline for striking Iranian energy facilities. The dollar index surged after-hours, while crude oil plummeted in the short term. Wall Street is deciphering the pattern of Trump's "TACO moment"—oil prices approaching $95 to $100 and the 10-Year Treasury Yield hitting 4.5% appear to be the two invisible red lines triggering a shift toward de-escalation by the White House

- The U.S. stock market experienced its largest sell-off in months amidst escalating concerns over Middle East conflicts, with President Trump announcing a 10-day extension for military action against Iran's energy facilities to facilitate ceasefire negotiations.  
- Trump claimed that progress in bilateral talks was occurring despite misinformation, leading to significant reactions in financial markets, including a spike in the dollar index and fluctuations in oil prices.  
- As oil prices surged due to supply disruptions, concerns grew over inflation, with predictions of U.S. inflation reaching 4.2% this year, prompting market reassessments of Federal Reserve policies.

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Posted 11 Minutes After the Close! US Stocks Suffer "Worst Day" Since Iran Conflict, Trump "Immediately" Extends "Negotiation Time" by 10 Days