US President Donald Trump walks on the South Garden of the White Home after arriving on Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV for his criticisms of the US-Israeli battle on Iran, calling the chief of the Catholic Church “WEAK on crime.” Photographer: Bonnie Money/UPI/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures
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U.S. derivatives regulators are inspecting a handful of bizarre oil futures trades that came about minutes earlier than a shock announcement by President Donald Trump signaling a pause in assaults on Iran, based on Bloomberg Information.
The investigation is being spearheaded by the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee, which is scrutinizing exercise on buying and selling venues run by CME Group and Intercontinental Trade, Bloomberg reported, citing individuals accustomed to the matter. Each exchanges have been requested to show over pertinent data.
Regulators are zeroing in on a minimum of two cases over a roughly two-week interval when buying and selling volumes jumped sharply simply forward of key bulletins. The data sought consists of so-called Tag 50 identifiers, which can be utilized to find out who was behind the trades, the individuals mentioned.
The CFTC declined to remark.
CME did not particularly touch upon the bizarre trades tied to Trump’s announcement, however the change mentioned that any investigation must also embody new platforms equivalent to contributors like prediction markets.
“Nothing is extra essential than market integrity,” a spokesperson at CME informed CNBC. “We vigorously surveil our markets and work carefully with the CFTC to supervise buying and selling exercise. Importantly, any evaluation of market conduct should embody all venues, together with prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi that checklist associated merchandise with little to no visibility.”
ICE did not instantly reply to a CNBC request for remark.
CNBC beforehand reported on the suspicious exercise on March 23 when S&P 500 e-mini futures and West Texas Intermediate Could crude futures noticed a sudden and remoted surge in quantity in in any other case muted premarket buying and selling.
About quarter-hour later, Trump mentioned on Fact Social that the U.S. and Iran had held talks and that he was halting deliberate strikes on Iranian energy crops and vitality infrastructure. The announcement triggered an instantaneous response throughout markets, with S&P 500 futures leaping greater than 2.5% forward of the open, and WTI crude oil futures tumbling almost 6%.
The sudden, simultaneous spikes in quantity in inventory index and crude futures raised eyebrows amongst merchants, significantly as they got here with none clear information or set off on the time.
Final week, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., known as on the CFTC to open investigations into such uncommon trades, elevating the query of whether or not there was recurring misappropriation of fabric nonpublic authorities data.
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