President Trump said Thursday he expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil production after he’d spoken with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, as rising oil prices buoyed the stock market.
The president’s comment on Twitter contributed to the price of West Texas crude soaring more than 30%. China also on Thursday said it would begin filling its oil reserves, another boost for stocks and oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 400 points, or 1.9%, before noon. The S&P 500 was up 1.7%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.3%.
The indexes gained despite the government’s announcement Thursday of a record 6.6 million unemployment claims filed in the past week. All three major stock indexes had lost more than 4% on Wednesday.
Mr. Trump said on Twitter that he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who in turn had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president also had spoken to Mr. Putin earlier this week.
“I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the [domestic] oil & gas industry!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have been engaged in an oil price war, refusing to cut production, which has lowered prices and hurt U.S. producers. It also has hit stocks, which were plummeting already from the effects of the economic shutdown from the coronavirus.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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